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Y r^. .„.,.. .^»ll2,o^iand;h^-'^>z.lge^ BrotlitTS.PubJisiier.v 

WiiliilieLordtlicre is mercy, and Aviili limi 

IS pleiiieoiis redenipiion. I Ps. 79,7.1 



lontlioftheiGad; 



OR, 

PROMPT AND EASY DELIVERANCE OF 
THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. 

BY THE SACRED CONGREGATION 

AND BY 

His Lordstiip, tiie AreJabishop of Bourges. 
Translated frorn the French of 

THE ABBE CLOQUET, 

HONORARY CANON, APOSTOLIC MISSIONARY AND LATE 
VICAR-GENERAL, 

BY A SISTER OF MERCY. 




NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, AND ST. LOUIS: 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 
1887. 



mi 




iimpxUndituVf 

-{.MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, 

ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK. 
New York, Oct. 18, i8a6. 



Copyright, 1886, by Benziger Brothers. 



NOTICE, 



This little book was first publislied 
witli the approbation of the Archbishop 
of Bourges, under the title Month of 
Deliverance for the Souls in 
Purgatory. Reprinted without any 
change except the insertion of some 
new Indulgences and the mention of 
new decrees which concern this sub- 
ject, it was deemed advisable to give it 
this time a more intelligible title. It 
reappeared then in 1867, under this new 
name: Month of the Dead; or, Prompt 
AND Easy Deliverance of the Souls 
in Purgatory, — provided, as formerly, 
with the approbation of the Archbishop 
of Bourges, and, in addition, with that 
of the Sacred Congregation. This 
notice has been deemed necessary to 
understand the approvals v/hich follow. 



Approbation. 



APFROBA TION. 

I. 

Archdiocese of Bourges. 
We have read tlie little book entitled 
Month of Deliverance for the 
Souls in Purgatory, and we think 
that its perusal may be useful to per- 
sons who pray for these helpless souls. 
Appe, Vicar-General. 
Bourges, Feb. 2, 1862. 

II. 

October 24, 1863, the Abbe Lamblin, 
Vicar-Generalof theDioceseof Bourges, 
being consulted by tlie author before 
the third edition of tlie same little 
work was published, informed \\\n\ 
that his Lordship the Archbishop of 
Bourges maintained the same authori- 
zation in its favor. 

III. 
Archdiocese of Bourges. 
By order of his Lordship the Arch- 
bishop of Bourges, I have examined the 
volume published by the Abbe Cloquet, 



Approbation. 5 

under the title of Month of Deliver- 
ance FOR THE Souls in Purgatory. 
In the doctrinal portions of the work 
I have found nothing but what was 
exact and pious. As to tliat part 
which treats more particularly of In- 
dulgences, decision must be i-eserved 
for the Sacred Congregation of Indul- 
gences, to which we know the author 
has submitted it. Such as it is, and 
with the above reservation, this work 
seems to us efficient to benefit the suf- 
fering souls. 

Lamblin, Vicar-General, 
BouRGES, March 15, 1866. 

IV. 

Since the date of the present authori- 
zation, the author has obtained a favor- 
able decree of the Sacred Congregation. 
We cannot, then, but wish the greatest 
circulation possible for the work which 
shall hereafter bear the title of Month 
OF the Dead; or, Prompt and Easy 
Deliverance of the Souls in Pur- 
gatory. 

Lamblin, Vicar-General, 

BouRGES, Feb. 16, 1866. 



6 Approbation. 

V. 

DECRETUM. 

Cum praesens opusculum cui titulus: Le Mois 
DES MoRTS, ou Dklivrance des Ames du Pur- 
, gatoire Prompte et Facile, etc., par M. I'abbe 
Cloquet, missionnaire, quoad Indulgentias, judi- 
cio duorum Revisorum cum authenticis docu- 
mentis coUatum et juxta eadem emendatum 
fuerit, nihil obstat quodminus typis mandetur 
ac publicetur. 

Datum Romae, et Secretaria Sacrae Congre- 
gationis Indulgentiarum, die 22 Januarii 1S66. 
Antonius-Mariae, Card. Panebianco, 
Praefectus. 
Philippus Can. Cossa, 
[loco sigilll] Substiintus, 

'J'ranslation. 
The work entitled Month of the Dead ; or, 
Prompt and Easy Deliverance of the Souls 
IN Purgatory, by the Abbe Cloquet, mission- 
ary, has been submitted, as to Indulgences, 
to the judgment of two revisers. It has been 
compared with authentic documents, and being 
in strict accord with them, there is nothing to 
prevent its being printed and published. 

Given at Rome, at the Office of the Sacred 
Congregation of Indulgences, Jan. 22, 1866. 

Antoine-Marie, Cardinal Panebianco, 
Prefect. 
Canon Philippe Cossa, 
[l. s.] Siibstihite. 

We have seen and authenticated the above 
decree. 4* Charles Amable, 

Archbishop of Bourges. 
By order, Pierre Pare. 

Secretary of the Archbishop. 
Bourges, Feb. 16, 1866. 



TO 

^ur 2L3lr» of Sorrotus 

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED 

AS A TESTIMONY OF FILIAL LOVE AND GRATEFUL 
EEMEMERANC£. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

A PPROBATIONS 3 

D EDICATION 7 

Preface ii 

NovENA IN Behalf of the Souls in Purgatory... 23 

MONTH OF THE DEAD. 

First Day — The Communion of Saints 27 

Second Day— All Souls' Day 32 

Third Day— Why is there a Purgatory ? 38 

Fourth Day — God Invisible 44 

Fifth Day— The Exile 49 

Sixth Dav— Fire ! Fire f . 54 

Seventh Day — The Ang^er of the Lord 59 

Eighth Day— Suffer ! How long- ? «... 63 

Ninth Day— Duration estimated from Indulgences 

and Canonical Penances 68 

Tenth D^y — Duration estimated from the Practices 

of the Church 74 

Eleventh Day — We can do Nothing; you who Live 

can do All 79 

Twelfth Day — So soon Forgotten! 85 

Thirteenth Day — Child, for thee thy Father burns 91 

Fourteenth Day — Oh! my Mother ! 97 

Fifteenth Day — He whom I love suffers 103 

Sixteenth Day— Is not thy Love Stronger than Death? 109 
Seventeenth Day — Ah ! it is my Son, it is my Daugh- 
ter, who groans ! 1T3 

Eighteenth Day — My Brother, my Sister, help ! 118 

Nineteenth Day — Friend, dost thou still love me ?. . . 124 

Twentieth Day — The most Abandoned 132 

Twenty-first Day — God wishes it 137 

Twenty-second Day — Pray. pray!.. 142 

Twenty-third Day — Blood \ Blood ! Divine Blood is 

necessary 149 

Twenty-fourth Day— Journeying to Calvary in the 
Footsteps of our Saviour 156 



lo Contents. 



PAGE 

Twenty-fifth Day — Expiation 162 

Twenty-sixth Day — The Ransom 167 

Twenty-seventh Day — Good Works 174 

Twenty-eighth Day — The Treasury of Indulgences.. 181 

Twenty-ninth Day — The Hefoic Vow 187 

Thirtieth Day— The Deliverance 193 

SUPPLEMENT. 

I. Communion » 201 

II. Confraternities ' 207 

THE EASIEST INDULGENCES. 
FIRST PART. 

CHAPTER 

I. Utility of Indulgences 212 

II. Conditions for gaining an Indulgence 213 

III. Special Conditions for a Plenary Indulgence. .. . 215 

SECOND PART— THE DAY OF INDULGENCES. 

On Rising ^ 218 

Morning Prayers 219 

The Holy Mass 224 

Vespers 238 

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament 241 

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament 242 

A Visit to our Blessed Mother 245 

Holy Viaticum carried to the Sick 246 

Way of the Cross 247 

Chaplet 247 

Ejaculatory Prayers .... 248 

In Danger or Temptation 250 

After a Sin. . 251 

Act of Reparation for Blasphemy 251 

Night Prayers 252 

THIRD PART— THE INDULGENCED YEAR. 

CHAPTER 

I. Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences attached to 

Movable Feasts 258 

II. Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences for Regular 

Days in the Year 264 

*III. Indulgences w^hich are granted periodically 

each Week, each Month, and each Year 288 

IV. Tndulgences at the Hour of Death 297 



PREFACE. 



The practice of the Month of the 
Souls in Purgatory is spreading more 
and more. It bids fair to become as 
popular as that of the Month of Mary. 
Its origin is very ancient, and, under a 
different form, we find it among the 
Jewish people, long before the Chris- 
tian era. The proof of this we find in 
religious journals of our period, and 
especially in the Opinion die Midi, a 
French paper. Some years ago, the 
Abbe Serre, director of an Archcon- 
fraternity for the relief of the souls in 
Purgatory, established at Nimes, thus 
expressed himself in the above-men- 
tioned journal: 

" Under the ancient law the Month 
of the Dead was one of the most gen- 
eral and one of the most usual forms 
of prayer for the deceased; indeed, de- 
votion towards the dead appears to be 



12 Preface, 

one of the most remarkable rites amonp^ 
the Jews. It was decreed after the 
death of the patriarch Jacob that his 
sons should mourn him for tliirty days. 
It was the same on the death of tlie 
high-priest Aaron, and of his brother 
Moses; mourning for thirty days was 
renewed, and the people of Israel be- 
lieved that they could not better testify 
tlieir gratitude to these two great men 
than by offering to God supplications 
for their souls during a whole month. 
"^ This pious practice of praying for 
the departed during an entire, uninter- 
rupted month became so deeply rooted 
among the chosen people that Scripture 
assures us mourning is only complete 
w^hen the deceased has been sorrowed 
over during thirty days. ' This period,' 
says the historian Josephus, ^ has been 
recognized by all the Doctors as just 
and proper to weep over the loss of 
those dear to us.' So the Catholic 
Church, which, from Apostolic times, 
has shown so much solicitude for her 
deceased children, never ceasing to pray 
for them, has also specially encouraged 
mourning for one month as the strong- 
est expression and the most vivid 



Preface, 1 3 

tribute of tlie compassion tlie survivors 
have for those who are no more. From 
this comes the holy rite called tlie 
Month of the Dead, to which liturgical 
authors give mystical interpretations. 
Saint Gregory rendered it more im- 
portant by adding to it the celebration 
of thirty Masses on thirty consecutive 
days, and Innocent XI. enriched it with 
indulgences. Classed by the monks of 
Cluny among their pious exercises, it 
was adopted by the faithful during 
many centuries and recommended bv 
Benedict XIII. 

'' Benedict XIX. wished to see it 
revived in its first vigor for the advan- 
tao^e of the livinor as well as for that of 
the dead. Laws were not wanting on 
this subject. In the Council of Bavaria 
it was agreed that on the death of one 
of the bishops or abbots of the province 
each of the survivors should say thirty 
Masses, and that the bishops or abbots 
should do the same for each dead priest 
or monk. In the Synod of Chelsit 
they prescribed the recitation of certain 
prayers, during a month, to aid more 
promptly the entry of the departed in- 
to the kingdom of happiness; and in 



14 Preface, 

the capitularies of the kings of France 
it was ordained that fasting and offer- 
ings should be made during thirty 
days for the intention of friends and 
relations of the departed. 

" Encouraged by so great a testi- 
mony, the piety of the faithful has al- 
ways, although in various ways, conse- 
crated a month to the memor}^ of those 
who were dear to them. Tlius, the 
clergy of Metz practised it for their 
bishop, Cleodulphe, by offering Masses, 
penances, prayers, and alms for him 
during thirty days; the holy abbot, 
Peter of Clugny, recommended all the 
priors of his Order to do the same for 
his mother, Raingarde. Charlemagne 
displayed his imperial magnificence in 
founding a Chapter of Canons, who re- 
cited thirty psalters each year and cele- 
brated as many Masses for the repose 
and peace of his well-beloved son, 
Rotard; and the Most Serene Infanta, 
Isabella Clara Eugenia, besides the 
celebration of four thousand Masses, 
caused public and private prayers to be 
offered, during thirty consecutive days, 
for the soul of her deceased husband, 
the Archduke Albert. Saint Louis 



Preface. 1 5 

Bertrand gave himself up to rigorous 
penances and very fervent prayers, dur- 
ing the same space of a month, for 
the intention of one of his religious 
brothers whom he had the consolation 
of seeing ascend to heaven on the 
thirtieth day. Saint Peter Damian 
narrates that in a certain monastery 
the Divine Sacrifice was daily offered, 
during an entire month, for the benefit 
of each monk at his decease; the wliole 
community being obliged to assist 
thereat. At the abbey of Fulda, during 
the same space of time, the deceased is 
considered present in the refectory, and 
his portion of food is given each day to 
the poor for the good of his soul. Saint 
Norbert wished that in his Order of 
Premonstrants this double practice of 
devotion for the dead should be ob- 
served; and with the Friars Preachers, 
who are so charitable towards the dead, 
the rule of the great patriarch. Saint 
Dominic, ordered that for each brotlier 
or sister taken away by death there 
should be recited, during thirty days, 
one hundred Pater nosters by the lay 
brothers and by the sisters, and that 
the priests should say thirty Masses." 



1 6 Preface, 

We read some time ago, in Le Alonde^ 
a French newspaper, the following: 

*^ The pious practice of the Month of 
November for the Souls in Purgatory 
is spreading in the various dioceses of 
this kingdom. Last November it was 
established in many of the parishes, to 
the great satisfaction of zealous priests 
eager for its foundation, and to the 
great benefit of many of the faithful 
who joined in the devotion. Its method 
is analogous to that of the exercises for 
the Month of Mary. So great have 
been its fruits in the parishes where it 
lias been introduced, that many other 
priests have resolved to establish it in 
their parishes next November, and 
there is reason to believe that it will 
shortly become a devotion common to 
all the churches of the kingdom of 
Naples. 

*' God, Who desires so much that the 
children of the Church Militant should 
aid the souls in Purgatory, will, with- 
out doubt, bestow generous blessings 
out of the treasures of His goodness 
on the pastors and on the faithful who 
co-operate in extending this work of 
mercy ; and the suffering souls, faith- 



Preface, 1 7 

fal as well as just, powerful as well as 
beloved of the Lord, who, in other re- 
spects, liave so much the right to our 
aid, will return a hundred for one to 
those who assist them." 

La Verite, a French journal, adds : '^ It 
is with great joy and sincere consola- 
tion that the propagators of the work 
so well known under the title of Month 
of Novemberfor the Souls in Purgatory 
see from day to day the realization of 
their dearest hopes. 

" The pious practice of the Month of 
the Dead, already adopted in many 
Catholic churches, promises to assume 
still larger proportions this year." 

Finally, the Rosier de Afarie^ another 
French paper, thus expresses itself : 
'' By a special dispensation of Divine 
Providence, the Month of the Souls 
in Purgatory appears destined to be- 
come as general and as popular as 
the Month of Mary. We are almost 
certain it w^ill be so for us, because, to 
our own knowledge, in man}^ dioceses 
of France, this beautiful and touching 
devotion has assumed, within a few 
years, an extent that is truly prodigious, 
and we are happy to say that it is 



1 8 Preface. 

spreading more and more every day, 
thanks chiefly to the sahitary influence 
of several new associations or confra- 
ternities devoted to the dead, and to a 
number of woi'ks which pious writers 
have recently publislied on this de- 
votion, all tending to lead hearts to the 
practice of good works and virtue." 

We v^^ill indicate briefly how the 
Month of the Souls in Purgatory is 
practised : 

1. As is generally known, many per- 
sons perform pious exercises in private 
during the month of November, spe- 
cially consecrated to devotion towards 
the dead. 

2. In some congregations and re- 
ligious communities, both of men and 
of women, tlie exercises are ordinarily 
performed in common. 

3. In others they content themselves 
with reading the daily meditation in 
the evening, each one doing what char- 
ity may suggest to him for the holy 
souls. 

4. In numerous parishes where the 
zealous pastor is careful, each year, to 
recall to mind the opening of the 
Month of the Souls in Purgatory, near- 



Preface. 19 

ly all the faithful make it at home, 
during the evening; not always, how- 
ever, in the month of November, be- 
cause in the country, at that time, the 
men liave heavy work which requires 
rest at an early hour; but in the month 
of December, when the entire family is 
reunited. Then, after supper, each 
member takes his place around the 
rustic hearth, and while all are silently 
at work a child reads aloud the special 
reading for the day, after which he re- 
cites the Rosary for the intent*ion of the 
souls in Purgatory, and all respond 
without interrupting their work. In 
this way the last hours of the day are 
doubly well spent. 

5. Elsewhere the pastor assembles 
his parishioners at church in the even- 
ing, to read them the daily meditation 
and to give them the necessary expla- 
nations more or less long ; then he re- 
cites with them the chaplet or other 
prayers for the dead, and the service 
ends by the singing of a canticle on 
Purgatory, 

6. In many schools, at the end of the 
class, the above-mentioned reading is 
made to the children, always followed 



20 Preface. 

by some short prayers in behalf of the 
faithful departed. The children are 
delighted with tliis exercise, and hasten 
to repeat to their parents whatever 
they may remember of the reading. 
The examples, above all, make a deep 
impression on them. 

A more simple and more practical 
method than the preceding would con- 
sist in reading, each morning of No- 
vember, at the beginning or end of 
Mass, or, better still, at the Gospel, for 
five minutes, some pages of a book 
both doctrinal and practical on Purga- 
tory. This method can be adopted 
everyw^here. A simple wish expressed 
by the bishops would suffice to render 
universal this manner of practising the 
devotion of the Month of the Dead. 

Here is the p;eneral plan of our 
Month of the Dead which may serve 
for the pious exercise that we suggest. 

Composed of three parts, each part 
includes ten days. 

First Part. What is suffered in 
Purgatory. 

Second Part. Those who suffer 
there. 



Preface, 2i 

TkiRD Part. Means of delivering 
those who suffer. 

The reading of each day contains : 

1. The indication of an office to fill 
for the benefit of these suffering souls. 
This office, function, or duty is only 
suggested by a word, which word 
suffices to dictate to a devout heart 
works conformable to the thought con- 
tained in this simple indication. 

2. The title of tlie subject. 

3. A text taken from Holy Scrip- 
ture. 

4. An explanation of the subject, in 
the form of a short, interesting, and 
touching reading on Purgatory. 

5. A revealed or historical fact con- 
cerning this place of expiation. 

6. A resolution or practice useful 
either for one's self or for the relief of 
the suffering dead. 

7. A prayer suitable to the subject. 

8. An aspiration enriched with in- 
dulgences which are applicable to the 
faithful departed. 

To make use of and to increase the cir- 
culation of this book is then one of the 
strongest proofs of kind remembrance, 
of tender charity, and of salutary assist- 



22 Preface, 

ance which we can give to our dead. 
Is is not then desirable that persons 
devoted to their deceased friends should 
introduce the custom of distributing 
it to their relations and friends as a 
souvenir of the deceased on the day of 
or that following the burial, or at the 
time of a funeral service? This alms 
will attain its end in a direct and last- 
ing manner. 



In Behalf of the SoUls in Purgatory. 

To be commenced October 24. 
FOR SUNDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which Tliy divine 
Son Jesus shed in the garden, deliver 
the souls in Purgatory, and amongst 
them all, especially that soul which is 
most destitute of aid; and bring it to 
Thy glory, there to praise and bless 
Thee forever. Amen. 

Our Father^ Hail Mary and the De 
prof and is. 

FOR MONDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, 1 neseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which Thy divine 
Son Jesus shed in His cruel scourging, 
deliver the souls in Purgatory, and 
amongst them all, especially that soul 
which is nearest to its entrance into 
Th}^ glory; that so it may soon begin 
to praise and bless Thee forever. Amen. 

Our Father^ Hail Mary^ and the De 
profundis. 



24 Nov en a. 



FOR TUESDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which Thy divine 
Son Jesus slied in His bitter crowning 
with thorns, deliver the souls in Purga- 
tory, and in particular, amongst tliem 
all, deliver that one which would be 
the last to issue from those pains, that 
it tarry not so long a time before it 
comes to praise Thee in Thy glory and 
bless Thee forever. Amen. 

Our Father^ Hail Maiy, and the De 
profundis, 

FOR WEDNESDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which Thy divine 
Son Jesus shed through the streets of 
Jerusalem when He carried the cross 
upon His sacred shoulders, deliver the 
souls in Purgatory, and especially that 
soul which is richest in merits before 
Thee; that so, on that throne of glor}^ 
which awaits it, it may magnify Thee 
and bless Thee forever. Amen. 

Our Father^ Hail Mary^ and the F>e 
profundis. 



Nuvena. 25 



FOR THURSDAY. 

Lord God Almight}^ I beseech Thee, 
by the precious body and blood of Thy 
divine Son Jesus, which He gave with 
His own hand upon the eve of His pas- 
sion to His beloved apostles to be their 
meat and drink, and which He left to 
His whole Church to be a perpetual 
sacrifice and life-giving food of His 
own faithful people, deliver the souls 
in Purgatory, and especially that one 
whicli was most devoted to this mystery 
of infinite love; that with Thy divine 
Son, and with Thy holy Spirit, it may 
ever praise Thee for this Thy wondrous 
love in Thy eternal glory. x\men. 

Our Father^ Hail Mary, and the De 
profimdis, 

FOR FRIDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which Thy divine 
Son shed on this day, upon the wood 
of the cross, from His most sacred 
hands and feet, deliver the souls in 
Purgatory, and especially that soul for 
which I am most bound to pray; that 
the blame rest not with me that Thou 



26 Novena. 

bringest it not forthwith to praise Thee 
in Thy glory and to bless Thee forever. 
Amen. 

Our Father^ Hail May, and the JDe 
pi'ofundis, 

FOR SATURDAY. 

Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee, 
by the precious blood which gushed 
forth from the side of Thy divine Son 
Jesus, in the sight and to t*he extreme 
pain of His most holy Mother, deliver 
the souls in Purgatory, and especially 
that one amongst them all which was 
ever the most devout to this great Lady; 
that it may soon attain unto Thy glory, 
there to praise Thee in her, and her in 
Thee, world witliout end. Amen. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, and the De 
profundis. 

The Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XII., by a re 
script of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, Nov. 
i8, 1826, granted to all the faithful who, with 
at least contrite heart and devotion, shall say 
these prayers assigned for each day of the week, 
with the Our Father, Vciq Hail Mary, and the De 
profimdis, and pray, moreover, for some time, 
for the intention of His Holiness, 

An indulgence of One Hundred Days, once a 
day. 



MONTH OF THE DEAD; 

OR, 

Prompt and Easy Deliverance of 
the Souls in Purgatory. 



FIRST DA Y, 

OFFICE OF THE INTERCESSOR. 

The Communion of Saints. 

** Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." — 
Apocalypse xiv. 13. 

For the virtuous, the Supreme Judge 
has reserved heaven and its ineffable 
joys. 

For the wicked, He has prepared hell 
and its unheard-of torments. 

Where do those go who pass from 
this life having to atone for light faults 
which we call venial sins, or to suffer 
the temporal punishment for great sins 
of which the offence has been pardoned 
and the eternal punishment remitted by 
absolution? Into a place of expiation 



28 Month of the Dead, 

called Purgatory. Such is the belief 
of the Church decided iu the Council 
of Trent: *' If any one says that, by the 
grace of justification, the guilt and 
eternal pain are so far remitted to the 
penitent that there remains no more 
temporal punishment to be suffered in 
this world, or hereafter in Purgatory, 
before entering the kingdom of heaven, 
let him be anathema!" 

It is then true, O my God! that Thy 
justice exacts pain, punishment, and 
expiation for each fault committed, and 
that it watches at the gate of heaven to 
witiidraw and to drive away from this 
place of innocence and peace those 
whose sins, not yet effaced, offend Thy 
gaze. Yes, whilst the Church Militant 
combats and merits, the Church Tri- 
umphant rejoices and sings without 
ceasing. Holy! holy! holy! The 
Church Suffering expiates in sorrow 
and cries, Pardon! pardon! mercy! 
However, she is not abandoned either 
in heaven or on earth, because the saints 
in heaven console and encourage their 
suffering brothers by the hope of happi- 
ness; and the just of the Church Mili- 
tant may aid and even deliver them by 



The Communion of Saints. 29 

their prayers, sacrifices, and expiations 
made in common: this is what consti- 
tutes the Communion of Saints. O ad- 
mirable intercourse between the living 
son and the deceased father, between 
mother and daughter, husband and 
wife, the Hving and the dead! 

Historical Fact. 

Madame de Strafford, a sincere Pro- 
testant, having some doubts on the Holy- 
Sacrifice of the Mass and Purgatory, 
went to talk them over with Mgr. de la 
Motlie, Bishop of Amiens, who, without 
disputing with her, believed it his duty 
to undeceive her by speaking thus: 
"Madame, you know the Protestant 
Bishop of London, and you have confi- 
dence in him. Very well; I pray you re- 
peat to him that which I am going to 
tell you: ^The Bishop of Amiens told 
me a thing which ought to astonish me; 
it is that if you can deny that Saint Au- 
gustine, whom we look upon, like him, 
as one of the greatest Doctors, said Mass 
and prayed for the dead, particularly 
for his mother, he himself will become 
a Protestant.' '* This advice was fol- 



30 Month of the Dead, 

lowed. Tiie Anglican prelate said 
nothing, except that she had inhaled a 
contagious air vvliich had deluded her. 
Madame de Strafford concluded that 
the Protestant bishop answered nothing, 
because he had notliing to answer. She 
herself became a Catholic. 



Practice. 

Take the resolution never to finish 
the day without being in a state in 
which you would wish to die. 

Prayer. 

O my Jesus, adorable Chief of the 
Church, I bless and thank Thee for liav- 
ing establislied, between the members 
who compose it in heaven, in Purgatory, 
and on earth, tliose bonds of charity 
which death will not destroy. We re- 
joice in the happiness of our brothers 
who are in glory; tiiey present to Thee 
our desires and prayers, and ask, for us 
and with us, the graces we stand in need 
of to imitate them and obtain the same 
reward. Thoti wishest also that we 
should be affected by the lot of tliose of 



The Communion of Saints, 31 

our brothers who liave not a share in 
this happiness, because they have not 
yet discharged their debts to Thy for- 
midable justice. This is why we pray 
Thee to apply to them the indulgences 
of the following ejaculat^ry prayer: 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts: 
the earth is full of Thy glory. Glory 
be to the Father, glory be to the Son, 
glory be to the Holy Ghost. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, once 
a day. An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, 
three times every Sunday, as well as on the 
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and during its 
octave. 

A Plenary Indulgence, once a month, on any 
day when, being truly penitent, after confession 
and communion, they shall pray for some time 
for the intention of His Holiness. 



32 Month of the Dead. 



SECOND DA V. 

OFFICE OF CONSOLER. 

All Souls' Day; or, The Day of the Dead. 

" As one whom the mother caresseth, so will 
I comfort you." — Is. Ixvi. 13. 

This is a day which, each year, invari- 
ably finds minds with the same ideas, 
and hearts with the same sentiments; 
wliich gives gravity to all deportment, 
and seriousness to every face; covers 
all the world with solemn and reflec- 
tive mourning; urges on the silent 
throng, and collects it in the churches 
and in the cemeteries; bows every head 
and bends every knee by the irresistible 
power of the same thought; loosens all 
tongues and moves all lips with the 
abundance and consolation of the same 
vows and prayers ; recalls vividly in 
the family the absence of those whose 
loss they have mourned much and 
whom they still weep over; gives 
strength to the aged to plead with 



All Souls Day, 33 

unction and authority the cause, so in- 
teresting and so beautiful, of the souls 
in Purgatory. It is a gloomy and dis- 
mal day; one that comes at the time 
when all seems dying in nature, and 
appears to have been reserved to illumi- 
nate the tomb. This is called the Day of 
the Dead. All that is said, all that is 
done, on this day, tends to prove that 
they are not forgotten. May it please 
God that it will always be thus! 

An Appeal to the Living to intercede for 
the Dead, by M. Lasalle. 

At least, there is one heart on earth 
w^hicli never forgets, one heart which 
remembers and prays without ceasing, 
one heart ready at all times to come to 
the aid of the abandoned dead: it is the 
heart of the Catholic Church. Ah! 
she is the mother — mother of those 
children who battle on earth, and 
mother also of those children who 
suffer in Purgatory; and the cries 
of both have a perpetual echo in her 
tender and compassionate heart. If 
you doubt this, you have but to look 
and to listen on these davs of universal 



34 Month of the Dead. 

funerals, where she affords within lliis 
heart a meeting-place of remembrance 
to her children of both worlds, in this 
incomparable feast, so well named by 
tlie Church the Commemoration of 
the Dead. That day, with mourning 
garments, with sighs in her voice, with 
tears in her heart, "Oh!" she says then 
to lier desolate children, attentive to 
the voice of her prayer and of her 
grief, *' console yourselves, my children, 
console yourselves; if your friends pray 
no more, if nobody remembers, I will 
always pray; I will never forget you; I 
am your mother, and I shall cause the 
lamentations of my love for you to be 
heard by those who forget you; I will 
call within my house your brothers and 
sisters to pray, to weep, to pi'ocure the 
lessening of your sufferings, and to 
hasten the day of your release. When 
they are come, I will send my priest as 
an angel of remembrance and of con- 
solation; I will place in his heart my 
grief and 3^ours, in his voice my 
accents; and I will say to him, 'Go, my 
son, and touch the hearts of thy living 
children by thy discourse on the suffer- 
ings of thy dead brethren; speak louder 



All Souls Day, 35 

than the silence of their tomb is pro- 
found; and v/hen thou pleadest the 
cause of the greatest sorrows, speak 
strongly also, and fear not to say to 
these living ones, so cruelly forgetful, 
what it is to abandon the dead; tell 
them that this voluntary forgetfulness 
of the dead is inhuman and contrary 
to fraternal love.' " 



Origin of the Institution of the Commemo- 
ration of the Dead. 

In the 3^ear 1048, says Peter Damian, 
a French religious returning from 
Jerusalem was thrown by a tempest 
on an island. Here he found a holy 
hermit, who told him that there was 
near by a place wdience great flames 
could be seen arising, in which the souls 
of the dead were being tormented, and 
that he often heard the demons com- 
plain of those of the faithful, and 
especially of the Abbot Odilon and his 
monks, who by their prayers and alms 
aided these souls and delivered them 
from their sufferings. This religious, 
on his return to France, sought Saint 
Odilon, wdio was not unknown to him 



36 Month of the Dead. 

and narrated wliat had happened. 
Thereupon the holy abbot ordered that 
in all his monasteries particular pray- 
ers should be recited every year, on the 
second day of November, for the relief 
of the souls in Purgatory; and after- 
wards Pope John XVI., by the advice 
of Odilon, ordained tliat the same day 
should be observed thi'oughout the 
whole Church. 

Practice, 

Be present at the Mass for the dead; 
visit tlie cemetery; preserve the graves 
of your departed in proper order, and 
pray much for tiiem. 

Pi'ayer, 

O God of all consolation! Author of 
the salvation of souls, have pity on 
those who suffer in Purgatory, and 
grant them, together with entire deliver- 
ance from their sufferings, the happi- 
ness Thou didst promise to Thy servant 
Abraham and his posterity. Be moved, 
O Lord, by the consideration of the 
fidelity wMth which the}^ served Thee 



All Souls Day. 37 

during life, and forget the faults which 
through human frailty they have some- 
times committed; take them from this 
place of punishment and darkness to 
bring them to the place of peace and 
light. Hear, O my God! my humble 
prayer, and grant this grace to those 
for whom I am particularly obliged to 
prav. I ask for it through the merits 
of Him Who undertook to discharge all 
for us, and Who liveth and reigneth 
with Thee, world without end. Amen. 
Good Joseph, our guide, protect us 
and the holy Church! 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days to associates 
of the Perpetual Devotion of Saint Joseph, as 
often as they piously recite this short ejaculation, 
in any language. 



38 Month of the Dead. 



THIRD DA V. 

OFFICE OF ADVOCATE FOR THE 
SUFFERING SOULS. 

Why is there a Purgatory ? 

'* I will give glory to the Lord according to 
His justice." — Fs. vii. i8. 

The object of Purgatory is to purify 
the souls of the dead who are not in 
that state of culpability which merits 
the eternal torments of hell, nor in that 
state of purity required to appear im- 
mediately before the thrice-holy God 
Who reigns in heaven. 

To this number belong sinners for- 
merly guilty of mortal sins pardoned 
but not yet sufficiently expiated, and 
tlie imperfect tainted by venial sins, 
forgiven or not, which remain to be 
atoned for by sufficient penance. 

Purgatory is therefore only a tran- 
sitory state, a temporary expiation of 
which the term is more or less distant, 
according to the degree of guilt of 



Why is tlicre a Purgatory? 39 

each soul, or, rather, according to its 
debt of expiation. To understand this 
well, it is necessary to know that in sin 
w^e distinguish two things: the offence 
done to God, and the chastisement 
w^hich must be the punishment. It is 
true, the offence is pardoned after ab- 
solution received in the Sacrament of 
Penance. If our dispositions of sorrow 
and love of God were perfect, then all 
the punishment would likewise be 
totally remitted. But generally our 
dispositions are such that the eternal 
punisliment due to mortal sin is only 
changed into a temporal punishment, 
which it is necessary to endure in this 
life by doing a severe penance, or after 
death by suffering in Purgatory. In 
fact, the penitent rarely has the suffi- 
cient and necessary contrition to efface 
and discharge all temporal punishment, 
and the penances imposed by the con- 
fessor are nearly always too insufficient 
to liquidate the debt of expiation. 
Now, for want of expiation here below, 
or of indulgences gained in requisite 
dispositions during life, it is necessary 
tliat the soul should make satisfaction 
to the divine Justice in the pains of 



40 Month of the Dead. 

Purgatory after death, and such is the 
purpose for which God has established 
this place of expiatory sufferings. 



Saint Frances visits Purgatory. 

We read in the life of Saint Frances of 
Rome that an angel compelled her to 
survey the place for the purification of 
souls. She tells us that Purgatory is 
divided into three parts, eacii subdi- 
vided into three regions. Sharp and 
fiery flames fill Purgatory; but at the 
same time, far from being dark and 
gloomy as those of hell, they shed a 
living light. The souls who go there 
know that, to be renewed and prepared 
for iieaven, it is necessary that tiiey 
siiould be cleansed of all their blem- 
ishes. Their sufferings equal those of 
hell, but are soothed by the holy love 
of God and by their will submitting to 
His justice; they aie accompanied by 
hope and desire. Hope sustains and 
consoles the souls during the time of 
expiatory sufferings; the inexpressible 
desire which moves them towards the 
Supreme Good, of which they are de- 
prived, is the most cruel of their tor- 



Why is there a Purgatory ? 41 

ments; but at the same time the con- 
sciousness of the successive purifica- 
tion wliich is operating in them, the 
thirst of satisfying eternal Justice, are 
so very forcible, that they wouhi not 
wish to leave this, the abode of the 
Church Suffering, before being able to 
present themselves to the Judge of the 
living and the dead clothed with their 
new robe of innocence; for nothing de- 
filed can enter heaven. It was revealed 
to this saint that the penitent who 
confesses and is absolved has seldom 
the contrition necessary to efface tem- 
poral punishment, and that the pen- 
ances imposed are inadequate to the 
offences; therefore, in default of indul- 
gences gained with the requisite dis- 
positions, it is necessary to satisfy the 
justice of God by tlie pangs of Purga- 
tory, which exceed all that we can 
imagine. 

Practice. 

Pray for Protestants who do not 
believe in Purgatory, and for bad 
Catholics who seldom think of it. 



42 Month of the Dead. 

Pi^ayers. 

ACT OF FAITH. 

My God, I firmly believe all that ihe 
Church believes and teaches, and espe- 
cially the existence of a place of ex- 
piation called Purgatory, where the 
faithful complete, after death, the satis- 
faction due to Thy justice. I believe 
it, because it is Thou, O infallible 
truth, Who hast revealed it, and be- 
cause Thou canst neither deceive nor be 
deceived. 

ACT OF HOPE. 

My God, I hope for Thy holy grace 
in this v^orld, and that, after having 
atoned for all my sins wiiether it be in 
this life or in Purgatory, Thou wilt 
permit me to enter paradise through 
the meritstof Jesus Christ, my Saviour. 

ACT OF CHARITY. 

My God, I love Thee with all m^y 
heart, above all things, and I love my 
neighbor as myself for love of Thee. 



Whj/ IS there a Purgatory ? 43 

For this double motive, I entreat Tliee 
to comfort and even to release entirely 
the souls in Purgatory, so that our love 
for Thee and for them may be satis- 
fied. 

To gain the Indulgences attached to the Acts 
of Faith, Hope, and Charity, it suffices that the 
formula of these acts expresses and explains the 
particular motive of each of the three theological 
virtues. Therefore, by reciting the above- 
mentioned formula, or any other, one can gain 
each time an Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines, a Plenary Indr;lgence once 
a month, provided that the recitation has been 
made daily, and a Plenary Indulgence at the 
hour of death. 



44 Month of the Dead. 



FOURTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF DEFENDER. 

Cod Invisible. 

The pains of Purgatory, according 
to the Doctors of the Church, resemble 
those of hell, except that in the former 
place there is hope, and its duration is 
limited: the pain of loss and the pain 
of the senses are there. 

For the souls who suffer in Purga- 
tory the penalty of loss is the sorrow 
occasioned by the temporary priva- 
tion of the sight of God. 

On leaving the body, the soul finds 
itself before the face of God, in pres- 
ence of His glory: it is struck and 
dazzled by the amiability of His maj- 
esty. God is then Judge, Notwith- 
standing His heart, or His paternal 
tenderness, not finding it entirely ex- 
empt from sin. He must condemn it 
to undergo the expiations of a severe 
and painful prison. Yet if in this 
place of expiation these souls could 



God Invisible. 45 

forget God ! but no, this is impossible: 
it is necessary that they remember Him 
always, that they think unceasingly of 
that immense, infinite, and sovereign 
Good whom they invoke every moment 
with ail their strength, whom they 
eagerly desire and covet. Eacli instant 
they believe they see and grcisp Him, 
each moment they rush with incred- 
ible, unheard-of efforts, only to be 
more disappointed each time, because 
a powerful hand constantly draws 
them back and an interior voice cries 
to them, " Stop ! You are not yet suf- 
ficiently pure." This is an immeasur- 
able torment. 



Purgatory according to Saint Frances. 

Saint Frances of Rome, in a vision of 
which we have already spoken, learned 
that as soon as the soul has left the 
body the angel guardian presents to 
the Almighty 'he account of its good 
works, whilst the devils accuse it of its 
faults. The sovereign Judge pronoun- 
ces in favor of souls when they have 
not finished their earthly life in the 
State of mortal sin. The angels then 



46 Month of the Dead. 

conduct them to Purgatory; they are 
there punished according to the guilt 
and number of their sins, and their 
celestial guides remain at the right of 
their prison to conduct tliem to heaven 
when the term of expiation is com- 
pleted. The evil spirits who have 
tempted the souls are chained on the 
left of Purgator}^ They cannot hurt 
them more, but, by divine permission, 
they reproach them for the faults whicli 
they are expiating, and howl with re- 
gret for having lost them, because Luci- 
fer will punish themselves with new 
cliastisements. 

The souls partly purified quit the 
lower places of Purgatoiy and ascend 
higher and liigiier; their sufferings di- 
minish in the same proportion, and they 
become insensibly pure and luminous. 

These suffering souls know their re- 
ciprocal faults; they are aware that 
they are justly punished, and that they 
merit still greater pains. The con- 
sciousness of the mercy of God and the 
certainty of seeing Him one day con- 
sole and support them. 



God Invisible. 47 



Practice, 

From time to time devoutly press 
3^our crucifix to your lips, with an 
ejaculatory prayer like that whicii 
follows. 

Prayer, 

Where then is He, the soul of my 
soul and the life of my life ? Where 
then is He, the Spouse of the soul sigh- 
ing for God, that weeps and laments 
as a hell the torment of not possessing 
Him ? In vain I seek Him on this bed 
of flames and in this darkness; I find 
Him not, and my love, instead of Him, 
grasps but the night, and embraces only 
nothingness. O my Beloved, why dost 
Thou conceal Thyself? Oh! I pray 
Thee, rend this veil of darkness which 
prevents me from seeing Thee, and 
draw me with all Thy elect by the 
beauty of Thy eternal gaze ! O justice 
of my God ! since it is necessary that 
love must pay Thee all its debt, ah ! 
strike but with one blow this love so 
impatient to satisfy Thee; multiply my 
sufferings, but shorten the time, and, 



48 Month of the Dead. 

if it is necessary, give to a minute ages 
of anguish; better all torture be spread 
than the misfortune of waiting for it. 
I love, oh ! yes, I love Jesus Christ, my 
Love; and my greatest suffering is not 
finding Him Who, in espousing me on 
earth, lias promised heaven for the eter- 
nal nuptials ! 

O Jesus, listen to these accents of the 
souls in Purgatory of which we are the 
echoes, and accept the humble indul- 
genced prayer which we add in their 
name: 

My sweetest Jesus, be not my Judge, 
but my Saviour ! 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days each time, and a 
Plenary Indulgence on the Feast of St. Jerome 
Emiliani (July 20), if this ejaculation has been 
said at least once a day for a year. 



The Exile, 49 



FIFTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF PENITENT, 

The Exile. 

" There we sat and wept : when we remembered 
Sion." — Ps, cxxxvi. i. 

Imaorine an onlv son who lived for 
some time willi little dignity and pro- 
priety, in a strange land, in a distant 
country. Recalled by his father, he 
hastens home, he returns with confi- 
dence; but what is his surprise to see 
that his father, fully informed of the 
smallest of the details of his life, re- 
minds him of them with exactness, re- 
proaches him for tliem in presence of 
all the family assembled for rejoicing 
and feasting! Tiiis is yet but little: 
this father, after having shown what 
pain and sorrow it had cost him to be 
just and firm, ordered this guilty and 
unhappy son to withdraw from his 
presence, and to shut himself up in an 



50 Month of the Dead, 

obscure and deep cave in a forest, until 
the time wlien, his errors and faults 
being sufficiently atoned for, entrance 
could again be opened and he recalled, 
never more to be separated from his 
father. This guilty son had no pos- 
sible justification. He is shut up in 
the horrible cave, v^here, in the midst 
of the most poignant tortures, of the 
most heart-rending regrets, the image 
of his father unceasingly presents it- 
self to him — an image which he vainl}^ 
endeavors to draw to himself and em- 
brace. 

This supposition is dreadful, and yet 
this punishment can scarcely give us an 
idea or furnish us with a perception of 
the state of the souls in Purgatory. Ar- 
rived at the edge of the abyss where 
atonement condemns them to a sorrow- 
ful exile, they stop on a shore a thou- 
sand times more desolate than any 
earthly shore, and there, quite full of 
the thought of the celestial country, 
they begin to weep its absence with 
tears that differ from our tears and 
sighs as heaven differs from earth and 
time from eternity. 



The Exile ^ 5 1 



Saint Cyril. — The Exile. 

To show how far our prayers and 
good works can be useful to the dead, 
Saint Cyril employed, in the first ages 
of Christianity, the following compari- 
son: '^ Suppose a king," said lie, ^' had 
sent one of his subjects into exile, and 
that some of his servants came to entreat 
him to shorten this punishment or to 
soften it, and in order to obtain this 
favor they offered to serve their master 
with more zeal, ardor, and devotion, 
and to make personal sacrifices; and 
that the king on their account sweet- 
ened the fate of the exile and termin- 
ated it: what shall he have done that 
was not proper, natural, and reason- 
able?" Thus does the Lord act. All 
that can be satisfactory for ourselves 
He gives us the power to apply to 
others; the punishments we voluntarily 
impose on ourselves He consents to 
impute to the souls in Purgatory, and to 
let these be substitutes for those v/hich 
He has inflicted upon them. Now, since 
God gives us power to relieve them, 



52 Month of the Dead. 

does He not make it an obligation for 
us? 

Practice. 

Console those who have lost some 
relative or friend; teach them to make 
their tears useful and profitable for 
those they mourn. 

Prayer. 

O holy country of our souls! O beau- 
tiful heaven, of which the best days 
here on earth are but a feeble reflec- 
tion! Ah! when shall we enjoy the 
happiness reserved for us above; when 
quitting this life, enlightened by the 
light of faith and hope, supported par- 
ticularly by the force of our love, we 
shall see from afar those eternal feasts 
of which Jesus Christ is the light and 
consummation: not having power to fly 
towards you; to wait an hour, a day, 
years, centuries, before seeing the 
grandeur of your magnificence and 
plunging one's self in the torrent of 
your delights. My God, what an 
exile! 



Tlce Exile, 5 3 

Therefore have I ha»stened to cry out 
for tlie souls who already suffer this 
torment: 

My Jesus, mercy ! 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each time 
this ejaculation is said with at least contrite heart 
and devotion. 



54 Month of the Dead, 



SIXTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF PRESERVER. 

Fire! Fire! 

*' Which of you can dwell with devouring 
fire?" — Isaias xxxiii. 14. 

B}'^ the pain of the senses, the Church 
means other torments than the pain of 
loss, and principally fire of an unintelli- 
gible nature. 

All tiie torments of the martyrs do 
not approach the sufferings of Purga- 
tory, according to tlie revelation made to 
Saint Magdalen of Pazzi. And further 
than this, what would make the most 
confident tremble, the Angelic Doctor 
teaches that the pains of Purgatory are 
greater in some sense than tliose which 
our good Saviour endured in His sor- 
rowful passion. All the fires of the 
earth are not comparable to the fires of 
Purgatory; they are but the figure of 
it. '' The reason is," says Saint Thomas, 
*'that the fires of Purgatory are the 



Fire ! ' Fire ! 55 

same as tliose of hell, whicli do not 
act by any natural power, but as in- 
struments of the anger of God, which 
is like the flame of these fires, and 
gives them a force they naturally have 
not." 

Saint Gregory has also said: "I 
know that after this life many will finish 
the expiation of their faults in the 
flames of Purgatory; and this fire, 
though it is not eternal, is more un- 
bearable than the greatest tribulations 
tliat we can imagine." When a con- 
flagration devastates one of our terres- 
trial habitations, we hear from all parts 
tliese cries, Fire! fire! help! and each 
one hastens to the place of the disaster 
and tries to impede its progress. Now, 
with what ardor should we not repeat 
this cry in favor of those souls plunged 
in fires much more violent, and to com- 
fort them in evils more terrible than all 
the sufferings of this earth ! 

A Person on Fire. 

The Venerable Margaret Mary, being 
one day before the Blessed Sacrament, 
suddenly beheld a person on fire the 
violence of which penetrated her so 



56 Month of the Dead. 

strongly that she believed herself sur- 
rounded by the same. She did not 
recognize the individual who was shown 
to her, but his condition made her 
shed many tears. 

Tlie suffering soul then told her that 
he was a Benedictine religious of the 
congregation of Cluny, who had form- 
erly been Prior of the convent of Paray, 
to whom she had once confessed, who 
had given her some consolation on that 
occasion, and had allowed her to re- 
ceive Holy Communion. God per- 
mitted him in his sufferings to apply to 
Sister Margaret for relief through her 
prayers. He asked then that slie 
would offer and apply to him all that 
she might do and suffer for the space 
of three months. At the same time he 
made known to her three causes of the 
great sufferings to wliich he was con- 
demned: the first was too great an at- 
tachment to his reputation, wliich some- 
times made him prefer his own interest 
in this matter to the glory of God; the 
second was want of charity towards his 
brothers; the third was a too natural 
affection which he had had for creat- 
ures, and the evidences which he had 



Fire! Fire! 57 

given of it during the spiritural confer- 
ences he held witli tliem. This, he 
said, was very displeasing to God. 

Sister Margaret promised to do what 
was asked of her if she could obtain 
permission. Finally this was granted, 
but her promise did not deliver her 
from the sight of this afflicting spectacle, 
which did not leave her during all that 
space of time. She seemed to see this 
religious always near her, who com- 
municated to her his flames from tiie 
side whence they appeared to issue, and 
she felt in all that side of her body such 
vivid pains that she wept almost con- 
tinually. 

The Superior, who knew her state 
and the cause of her sufferings, found 
no other means of relieving lier than 
to impose penances, as disciplines, etc., 
and these holy practices brought relief 
to the religious and to the Sister. At 
the end of three months both were 
delivered from their pains; for Sistei 
Margaret saw this holy religious go up 
to heaven full of joy, after having 
acknowledged his gratitude and as- 
sured her he would intercede for her 
before God. 



58 Month of the Dead. 

Practice. 

Examine if you do not sometimes 
yield to human respect, and see how 
YOU can destroy in yourself and in otliers 
this weakness, which leads so many 
souls to Purgatory, and even to hell. 

Frayei' of the Church. 

O God, the Creator and Redeemer 
of all the faithful, grant to the souls of 
Thy servants departed the remission of 
all their sins, that, through the devout 
prayers of Thy Church on earth, they 
ma\^ obtain that remission of pain 
which they have ever desired. Who 
livest and reignest world without end. 
Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days. 

Ejaculation: Jesus! Mary! 

An Indulp^ence of Tvvent3^-five Days to all 
those who shall devoutly invoke these most 
holy names. 



The Anger of the Lord. 59 



SEVENTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF MEDIATOR. 

The Anger of the Lord. 

"The breath of the Lord is as a torrent of 
brimstone," — Isaias xxx. 33. 

Can we not say that this breath of the 
Lord wliich is terrible as a torrent of 
brimstone is tlie Holy Ghost? For, 
since He is the personified love of the 
Father and Son, and great love causes 
great liatred, and great hatred great 
revenge, it is He who gives the punish- 
ment for sin, and, as He is God, He exer- 
cises vengeance as a God. So that all 
men together, with creatures and 
demons combined, could not give to tlie 
fire which burns souls the amount of 
strength it has to torment them, for 
this requires tlie alm.ighty power of 
God. Let us cry, then, with the prophet 
Isaias: "Behold the name of the Lord 
Cometh from afar, His wrath burnetii 
and is heavy to bear; His lips are filled 



6o Month of the Dead, 

with indignation, and his tongue as a 
devouring fire." '^Alas! Lord," said the 
prophet-king, " Thy arrows are fastened 
in me, and Th}^ hand hath been heavy 
upon me." 

Saint Bernard descended in spirit into 
this burning gulf of Purgatory, and 
after having seen what he called a great 
vision, exclaimed, ^'Woe to us if we 
do not accomplish all our penance on 
earth, and that we should be obliged to 
accomplish it in this insupportable fire, 
more cruel and more ardent than any- 
thing imaginable !" 

A Moment in Purgatory. 

Turlot relates that a sick man suffer- 
ing great pains during a year finally 
asked God to let him die. I'he choice 
of three days in Purgatory or of another 
year of suffering on earth was offered 
to him through an angel. The invalid 
chose the three days in Purgator}^ 
Scarcely had he found himself there 
than, visited anew by the angel, he 
complained of suffering many years, in 
place of the three days which had been 
offered to him. *' Why," replied the 



The Anger of the Lord, 6i 

angel, '^ you have only been here a mo- 
ment; your body is still warm, and 
you speak of many years!" This soul 
earnestly asked to return to the earth 
and suffer again the same pains for a 
year. His request having been granted, 
the invalid incited all who came to see 
him to accept readily the pains of this 
world, rather than expose themselves 
to those of the other. 



Practice. 

Devote some minutes to spiritual 
reading. Happy are they who make 
this a daily practice! 

Prayer. 

Most powerful Lord, God of Israel, 
the souls of those who love Thee cry 
to Thee in the grief which oppresses 
them, and in the violence of the desire 
which consumes them. As a thirsty 
stag pants after a spring of living 
water, so they sigh after Thee; they 
burn with an ardent thirst to enjoy 
Thee Who art the living God. They 
say unceasingly, ''When shall it be 



62 Month of the Dead, 

given to me to appear in the presence 
of God?" They nourish themselves 
with the bread of tears, because the}^ 
have not yet had the happiness of pos- 
sessing Thee. Deign, holy Father, to 
hear their desires; listen to the voice 
of the blood of Thy Son which pleads 
in their behalf; do not longer conceal 
Thy face from them; pronounce their 
deliverance, and, remembering Thy 
mercies, delay not to receive them into 
Thy eternal tabernacles. 

For this purpose, deign to apply to 
them the indulgences of the following 
prayer: 

Hail Mary, full of sorrows, the Cruci- 
fied is with thee ; tearful art thou 
amongst women, and tearful is the 
Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, 
mother of the Crucified, grant tears to 
us, crucifiers of thy Son, now and at 
the hour of our death. Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each 
time. 



Suffer ! Hotv Long ? 63 



EIGHTH DA V. 

OFFICE OF ZEALOT. 

Suffer! How long? 

" Out of thedepths I have cried to Thee, O Lord; 
Lord, hear my voice." — De profundis. 

How long does a soul suffer in Pur- 
gatory ? This is a profound mystery. 
What is certain is that each soul re- 
mains a time proportioned to the num- 
ber and gravity of the faults to be 
expiated, and the duration of it is 
generally long, for Cardinal Bellarmine 
vvislies us to pray always. Long be- 
fore him, Saint Augustine had said: 
^' Let nobody ever think of placing the 
limit of the sufferings of Purgatory on 
this side of the final and formidable 
day of general judgment !" For twenty 
years he had prayed, practised morti- 
fications, and offered sacrifices for his 
deceased mother, Saint Monica. An- 
other author dared to form this propo- 
sition: *' A soul shall not pass more tlian 



64 Month of the Dead, 

ten years in Purgatory." Immediately 
the Chair of Saint Peter interfered, and 
spake by the mouth of the wise and 
virtuous Pontiff who then occupied it. 
Alexander VIL solemnly condemned 
the bold, audacious proposition; and 
the duration of the pains of Purgatory 
continues to remain a secret between 
God and the souls who suffer there. 

However, if we consider some visions 
and revelations which Venerable Bede, 
St. Dionysius, the illustrious bishop of 
Carthage, and many other holy and 
wise persons have not feared to relate 
and authenticate, we shall learn by evi- 
dences from Purgatory that there are 
souls who will positively dwell in its 
sufferings till the end of the world. 

Cardinal Bellarmine says there are 
souls condemned to burn in Purgatory 
till the day of Judgment; and this 
agrees with what Tertullian says, that 
in this subterranean prison many souls 
will be punished for some fault till 
the time of resurrection. Saint Cyprian 
also speaks of the length of these pains, 
when he says it is one thing to burn a 
long time for the expiation of sins, and 
another to atone for them by penance. 



Suffer! How Long? 65 



Bellarmine.— Innocent III. in Purgatory 
until the general Judgment. 

Pope Innocent III., having died after 
he had presided over the Council of 
Lateran, appeared to Saint Lutgard, 
who, astonished to see him surrounded 
by flames, asked him ^N\\o lie was. 
^* I am Pope Innocent," he replied. 
" What !" she exclaimed, '^ is it possible 
that our common father is so horribly 
tormented?" ^' I suffer this pain for 
three sins which would have caused me 
to be condemned to the eternal fire if, 
at the point of death, I had not received 
the grace of true repentance, through 
the intercession of the holy Mother of 
God, in whose honor I had founded a 
monastery. Therefore I have escaped 
eternal death; but I should burn in 
Purgatory till the day of Judgment if 
the Mother of Mercy had not obtained 
for me from her Son the favor of com- 
ing to ask the help of your prayers." 
Having said this, he disappeared. 
Saint Lutgard made known to her sis- 
ters the pitiable state of the Pope, and 
exhorted them to help him. For this 



66 Month of the Dead. 

object she herself practised very severe 
mortifications. 

All this has been extracted from her 
life. "' I acknowledge," continues Bel- 
larmine, " I acknowledge for mj^self that 
this example has often caused me to 
tremble with fear; for if a Pope who 
had had a reputation not only of hon- 
esty and wisdom, but even of sanctity, 
and whom we look upon as a model of 
virtue, has narrowly escaped damna- 
tion; if his Purgatory ouglit to last till 
the end of time, is there, in the world, 
a prelate (and we ourselves add: still 
more so, is there a Christian) who has 
not reason to tremble, who should not 
enter within himself and seriously ex- 
amine his conscience? Let us at least 
learn from this terrible history to 
watch over our interior, for fear that, 
flattering ourselves too much or lend- 
ing ear to flattery, we might fall into 
illusion, and from illusion into sin." 

Practice, 

Make a visit to the Blessed Sacra- 
ment in order to ardently solicit the 
relief and deliverance of the souls in 
Purgatory. 



Suffer! How Long? 67 

Prayer. 

Hail, O Queen of Mercy ! our life, 
our sweetness, and our hope not only 
in this valley of tears, but also in the 
place of expiation, hail ! To thee do 
we cry, O comforter of the afflicted; 
we sigh and lament for our brothers 
suffering in Purgatory. Turn, O our 
advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards 
them; show unto them the blessed Fruit 
of thy womb, Jesus. This is what we 
earnestly implore for them, O clement, 
pious, and sweet Virgin Mary. 

Ejaculation: Blessed be the holy and 
Immaculate Conception of the most 
Blessed Virgin Mary. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, each 
time this ejaculatory prayer is said with at 
least a contrite heart and devotion. 



68 Month of the Dead. 



NINTH DAY, 

OFFICE OF CONCILIATOR. 

Duration estimated from Indulgences and 
Canonical Penances. 

'* Wo is me, that my sojourning is prolonged." 
— Ps. cxix. 5. 

The Church grants indulgences of 
ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, and even one 
hundred years. Whether we say that 
these numbers correspond to as many 
years without which the sinner would 
have been obliged to pass in Purgatory, 
or that we think they indicate remission 
of temporal punishment equivalent to 
that obtained by tlie performance of 
canonical penances, it is always evident 
that long penances are required for the 
expiation of our sins, and if surprised 
by death, these penances must be com- 
pleted in Purgatory. We can further 
conjecture the length of expiation in 
the other life by the severity of the 
penitential canons, or rules of penances, 



Estimated Time of Expiation, 6g 

arranged by the Church as an estimated 
equivalent. 

The following is an extract taken 
from instructions to confessors by Saint 
Charles, printed by order of the Frencli 
clergy : 

^' For voluntary and deliberate per- 
jury, forty days on bread and vi^ater, 
and the seven following years passed in 
penance. 

"For having thoughtlessly taken the 
name of God in vain once, seven days 
on bread and water, and fifteen for the 
second and third time. 

'' For having publicly blasphemed 
against God, the Blessed Virgin, or any 
saint: to remain kneeling outside the 
door of the church during all the High 
Mass for seven consecutive Sundays, 
and, the last of these seven Sundci3^s, to 
be there without mantle or shoes, with 
a rope around the neck; to fast on bread 
and water for the seven Fridays wdiich 
precede these Sundays; to be deprived 
during this time of entering the cliurch; 
and, if possible, to feed, on each of these 
Sundays, one, two, or three poor per- 
sons, or to perform some other penance 
instead. 



70 Month of the Dead. 

^^ For having done servile work on 
Sunday or a holiday of obligation, three 
days on bread and water. 

*' For having spoken in Church dur- 
ing Divine Service, ten days on bread 
and water. 

^' For having violated the fast of Lent, 
seven days of fast for each day on which 
we failed to observe tlie precept. 

'' For having injured father or 
mother, three years of penance; for 
having struck tliem, seven years. 

** For having indulged hatred against 
a parent, to fast on bread and water as 
long a time as has elapsed without being 
reconciled. 

*^ For having stolen, once or twice, 
things of little importance, one year of 
penance. 

^^ For light slander, three days of 
penance. 

*' For readiness to slander, seven days 
on bread and water. 

^^ For being over-anxious to please 
men, three years of penance. 

"' Forsins against the sixth command- 
ment, three, ten, fifteen years of pen- 
ance, even all one's lifetime, according 
to the gravity of these faults, etc., etc." 



Estimated Time of Expiation, 71 

Suppose a man had committed ten, 
twenty, thirty times, or more, faults 
which require many years of penance. 
His life is too short to expiate them 
entirely in this world; he must then 
atone for the remainder in Purgatory. 

Now, if confessors impose less of 
these kinds of penances, it is not that 
the Church judges we do not merit 
them; but knowing the weak courage 
of many, like a kind mother she prefers 
to let us go to Purgatory because of 
the insufficiency of penances imposed in 
the holy Tribunal, to whicli the fervent 
can add something, than to be the occa- 
sion of a large number of her children 
going to hell through the discourage- 
ment they feel by a too difficult access 
to the Sacrament of Penance. 

Historical Fact. 

Saint Augustine regards as certain 
that Adam, who shed so many tears 
during his long life of nine hundred 
and thirty years, was obliged to con- 
tinue his penance after death till the 
time when our divine Saviour, having 
paid his ransom on the cross, de- 



^2 Month of the Dead, 

scended into the place his soul inhab- 
ited in the midst of pain and grief. 
David lamented his double fault all his 
life. The tears tliat Peter shed to de- 
plore his denial had marked two fur- 
rows on his cheeks. And what have 
we done in tlie way of penance ? 

Practice, 

Form the habit of applying to the 
souls in Purgatory every morning the 
indulgences attached to the prayers 
offered during the day. 

Prayer of the Church, 

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, de- 
liver the souls of all the faithful de- 
parted from the sufferings of Purga- 
tory; deliver them from the jaws of. 
the lion, that they be not engulfed in 
the abyss nor fall into darkness; but 
may the standard-bearer, Saint Mi- 
chael, conduct them into the holy light 
promised by Thee to Abraham and his 
posterity. 

Lord, apply to them the indul'gcnces 
of the following prayer and ejaculation: 



Estimated Time of Expiation, 73 

My Queen ! my Mother ! I give my- 
self entirely to thee; and to show my 
devotion to thee, I consecrate to thee 
this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, 
my heart, my w^hole being, without re- 
serve. Wherefore, good mother, as I 
am thine own, keep me, guard me, as 
thy property and possession. 

My Queen ! my Mother ! remem- 
ber I am thine own. Keep me, guard 
me, as thy property and possession. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, once 
a day, to all those who, with fervor and at least 
contrite heart, shall say, morning and evening, 
the above prayer and ejaculation, after one Hail 
Mary, to implore of the Blessed Virgin victory 
over temptations, especially over those against 
chastity; and a Plenary Indulgence, once a 
month, to those who, after confession and com- 
munion, shall visit a church and pray there for 
the intention of His Holiness. 



74 Month of the Dead, 



TENTH DA V, 

OFFICE OF COMPENSATOR. 

Duration estimated from the Practices of the 
Church. 

'* My soul is as earth without water unto Thee." 
— Ps. cxlii. 6. 

The long duration of the pains that 
souls may suffer in Purgatory is under- 
stood by the infallible Church, when 
she offers the holy Sacrifice of the Mass 
for the dead, not only at the time of the 
obsequies, but the third, seventh, ninth, 
and thirtieth day after death. She 
permits anniversaries which last for 
several centuries, authorizes and even 
promotes the foundations of perpetual 
service. Does this not tell us, clearly 
and explicitly, that these souls may 
have need of help and aid during" long 
years and even to the end of time ? 

Say not, then, at a person's death, 
*' She is happy! Behold her deliv- 
ered from all evils!" This would be 



Estimated Time of Expiation, 75 

want of reflection on what she prob- 
ably suffers in Purgatory, if slie died 
reconciled with God. Great saints, 
saints who have wrought miracles, 
have passed through the expiatory 
flames. Leave no person, therefore, 
without the iielp of suffrages. Alas ! 
how many souls, on account of badly 
enlightened piety or misunderstood 
veneration paid to their memory, groan 
in the flames of Purgatory, whilst they 
are invoked as being already in 
heaven! 

Saint Gregory the Great. — Thirty Masses. 

Whilst Saint Gregory the Great was 
Abbot in the monaster}^ of Saint An- 
drew, one of the monks, named Justus, 
had treasured and carefully hidden 
three pieces of gold; but he revealed 
his fault on his death-bed. To punish 
this infraction of the rule which for- 
bade all sentiment of proprietorship in 
an exemplary manner, Gregory forbade 
the community to visit the sick man 
and pray around him, as was custom- 
ary; he sent but one priest to assist him 
and exhort him to penance. Justus 



*]6 Month of the Dead. 

detested his fault, and died with senti- 
ments of the most lively compunction. 
The holy Abbot did not stop there: his 
zeal to maintain monastic discipline 
made him do that which Saint Ma- 
carius had done under similar circum- 
stances: he commanded Justus to be 
buried, with the three pieces of gold, 
under a dunghill; but, as he liad died 
penitent, Gregory did not wish him to 
be deprived of the prayers of the 
Church, but ordered the holy Sacrifice 
of the Mass to be offered for him dur- 
ing thirty consecutive days. We read 
in the works of this Saint that after 
the Mass of the thirtieth day Justus 
appeared to one of the brothers, and 
told him that he was about to be freed 
from the pains he had endured since 
his death. 

Practice, 

Have a great devotion to the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, and be of the number 
of those who propagate it. Pray often 
for the faithful departed to this com- 
passionate Heart. 



Estimated Time of Expiation, yy 



Prayer, 

O Heart of Jesus, burning with love 
for these souls, why do I not ask of 
Thee their eternal happiness ? Canst 
Thou refuse me, since Thou desirest it 
so ardently ? Thou askest it Tliyself 
of Thy Father, but Thy prayer and 
sacrifice can only be useful by the ap- 
plication I myself make of it for tliem. 
How can I see Thee immolated on the 
altar or annihilated in my heart for the 
salvation of the living and the dead, 
without thinking of those who have 
preceded me in life ? And when I 
shall pay them and Thee, O Heart of 
my Saviour, this debt of charity, shall 
I not have reason to hope that Thou 
wilt one day inspire others with the 
same charity for me? When I sliall 
serve to accomplish Thy designs and 
to satisfy Thy thirst for the welfare of 
all, canst Thou refuse to return me the 
good I will have done for Thee and to 
receive me, with those whom I have 
brouQ^ht there, into Thv eternal taber- 
nacles ? 

Meanwhile, deign to apply to them 



78 Month of the Dead, 

the indulgence attached to the follow 
ing offering: 

My loving Jesus ! I (N. N.) give 
Thee my heart, and I consecrate myself 
wholly to Thee, out of the grateful love 
I bear Thee, and as a reparation for 
all my unfaithfulness; and with Thy 
aid I purpose never to sin again. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, once a 
day, to all who shall, wiih at least contrite heart 
and devotion, make this offering before a pic- 
ture of the Sacred Heart; and a Plenary Indul- 
gence once a month. 



Those who Live can do AIL 79 



ELEVENTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF LIBERATOR. 

We can do nothing; you who live can do all. 

"I must work the works of Him that sent 
me, whilst it is day: the night cometh when no 
man can work." — John ix. 4. 

AH merit and, of course, all satisfac- 
tion cease at death, because the soul 
has no longer liberty to choose between 
good and evil. This is the reason why 
the souls in Purgatory are powerless to 
help themselves, and to hasten their 
deliverance. They are prisoners for 
debt whose captivity only ceases at the 
time fixed by the judge, not being able 
by themselves to gain and liquidate the 
amount which is the cause of their se- 
clusion. Our lot, as children of the 
Church Militant, is therefore prefer- 
able, not only in being able to merit for 
ourselves, but, besides, to supply for tlie 
dead and give part of our satisfactions 
to our brethren of the Church Suffering. 



8o Month of the Dead. 

So it is from us alone that they expect 
relief, help, and the termination of their 
sufferings. We are the only resouice 
of the dead; we alone are theirdeliver- 
ers; for we alone can suffer with merit 
and, consequently, expiate. Heaven 
consoles them, we relieve them ; Heaven 
encourages them, we deliver them; the 
saints show them their fatherland, open 
their arms to receive them there, we 
introduce them into this celestial abode 
of repose and happiness. Such is our 
power, Christians! Now, this power, 
in presence of so much powerless suf- 
fering, creates for us a strict obligation 
of hastening to their relief. For, the 
poorer one is, the more are we bound 
to aid him. Who is poorer than he who 
has nothing, who owes much, and who 
has no means of working, earning, or 
asking, if, nevertheless, he must give 
satisfaction, even to the last farthing, 
in the midst of inexpressible torments? 
Saint Thomas teaches that prayers 
offered for the dead are more favorably 
received by God than those addressed 
to Him for the living. 

Listen to these poor prisoners for 
debt, saying to you words analogous to 



Those who Live can do AIL 8i 

those which a prisoner on earth ad- 
dressed to a woman whose considera- 
tion was great, and whose hand was 
strong enough to break liis irons and 
give him liberty: ^^ Madam, I shall have 
suffered one hundred thousand liours 
the 25th of this month, 1760, and there 
still remain for me two hundred thou- 
sand hours of suffering." Hear them 
add: *' We can do nothing, nothing 
for our deliverance. To suffer, suffer 
on, and know that the suffering pro- 
duces nothing; to shed tears of fire and 
feel thatjUnder the burning dew of these 
tears, nothing can spring up but suffer- 
ing succeeding suffering, until the hour 
when Justice, after having counted the 
moments and weighed the sufferings, 
can say, ' It is sufficient! But oh! it is 
hard!' Mortals! help, help! extend 
your hand to the poor captive and 
deliver him." 

Want of Suffrages. 

"I have learned from Sister Margaret 
Mary," says Mother Superior Greffier in 
lier memoir, "that two religious for 
whom she prayed after their death were 



82 Month of the Dead, 

shown to lier in these prisons of divine 
Justice; but one suffered pains incom- 
parably greater than those endured by 
the oilier. She complained much of 
herself, for, on account of her faults 
against charity and holy friendship 
which ought to reign in religious com- 
munities, she drew upon herself, 
amongst other punishments, no share 
in the suffrages offered to God for her 
by the community. The only relief 
she received was from the prayers of 
three or four members for whom she 
had had during life less affection and 
inclination. This suffering soul also 
accused herself of the too great readi- 
ness she had manifested in dispensing 
herself from the rule and the common 
exercises; finally, she bewailed the care 
she had taken while on earth to pro- 
cure ease and accommodation for her 
body. At the same time, she made 
known to our dear Sister that, as a 
punishment for these three faults, she 
had suffered three furious assaults of 
the devil during her agony, and that, 
believing herself lost each time, she 
was on the point of falling into 
despair; but the Blessed Virgin, for 



Those who Live can do AIL 83 

whom she had a great devotion, drew 
her from the clutches of the enemy. 

*' Tlie other religious, who suffered 
less, asked nothing; at which Sister 
Margaret being asLonislied, it was re- 
vealed to her that this soul was not al- 
lowed to ask of her, on account of hav- 
ing failed in corresponding to the call 
which God had given her of going to 
Him by pure suffering, and, contrary to 
His design, having anxiously sought 
relief." 

Practice, 

Joyfully obey, as you would God, 
those whom He has given you for 
superiors. 

Fraye7\ 

Great Saint Joseph, who loved Jesus 
so tenderly, and who felt so keenly the 
severity of His absence during the time 
you spent in Limbo, I earnestly recom- 
mend all the suffering souls in Purga- 
tory to you. Be their consoler in this 
place of punishment and atonement; 
deign to obtain for them an applica- 
tion of the pious suffrages of the faith- 



'84 Month of the Dead. 

iful, and in particular my own; make 
yourself their intercessor witli Jesus and 
Mary, and obtain by your prayers that, 
delivered from the bonds which hold 
.tiiem captives, they may spring to the 
t bosom of God, to be eternally replen- 
ished with the torrent of delights with 
which He inundates His elect. Amen. 
With the intention of applying to 
them the indulgences of the following 
•ejaculations we say: 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I give you 
my heart and my soul. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! assist me 
in my last agony. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! may I 
breathe out my soul in peace with you. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days 
granted to all the faithful every time that they 
shall, with at least contrite heart, repeat these 
ejaculations. 

Saint Joseph, friend of the Sacred 
Heart, pray for us. 

By arescript. June 3, 1874, His Holiness, Pope 
Pius IX., granted to all the faithful who shall 
make this ejaculation, with at least contrite 
heart and devotion, an Indulgence of One 
Hundred Days, once a day. 



So soon Foi'gottcn ! 85 



TWELFTH DA Y. 

OFFICE OF APOSTLE. 

So soon Forgotten ! 

'* And I looked for one that would grieve to- 
gether with me, but there was none.'' — Ps. Ixviii. 
21. 

*^Alas!" Sciys Rev. Fatlier Felix, 
*'alas! in vain would we wish to deceive 
ourselves on this point; forgetfulness 
is the sad inheritance bequeathed by 
life to death. When the form of man 
has disappeared from our sight, 
thoughts of him rest not long in our 
mind; in reality, so quickly do we for- 
get even those we had loved best! This 
neglect we cannot believe, at the time 
our soul, all full of regrets and fare- 
wells, promises to itself, as a consola- 
tion, immortality of remembrance. 
When we clasp in our hand the hand 
of him who is leaving us, and hear for 
his last words; 



86 Month of the Dead, 

"^Ah! you at least will not forget 
me! ' 

'* ^ I forget you ? Oh ! never, no, never! 
Death first! ' 

"" Alas! poor heart of ours, everything 
escapes it — everything, even those feel- 
ings which are its very life. Whilst 
the blow that death has struck still re- 
sounds within us, and our heart suffers 
from its recent wound, probably we re- 
member. But as time goes on, the re- 
membrance vanishes with the grief ; the 
train of life brings, with other relations, 
new affections; time keeps advancing, 
and finally we think of leading an ex- 
istence which has no further need of 
the dead; one step more and we are 
already accustomed to forget them. 
Now, when one is no longer necessary 
for the happiness of anybody here be- 
low, it is useless to hope to live in their 
memory; and in this respect there are 
many of the living who are already of 
the dead. 

'^ So, sometimes the grass has not 
grown on our grave before new friend- 
ships, springing up in the hearts of 
those who have wept so much for us, 
little by little efface remembrance, 



So soon Forgotten ! 87 

which continues to decrease until it 
reaches forgetfuhiess. The sound of 
weeping, of regrets, and of praises will 
perhaps surround your last sigh; but 
as the tolling of the bell which re- 
echoes at our funeral grows fainter 
and fainter till it becomes silent, so 
the loudest sound of life, resounding in 
death, dies out. For example: whilst 
our body is returning to dust it mingles 
with a thousand things already reduced 
to earth, so our remembrance vanishes, 
little by little, lost with tlie forgotten 
generations. Then silence reigns; and 
of all the sounds which come under 
the winds of heaven, not one will tell 
that we have existed. Silence every- 
where! And even in the little corner 
of the earth where our life was passed 
there will be silence too! Alas! yes, 
your very name will cease to be men- 
tioned*; at least, it will no longer be 
either the preoccupation or the enter^ 
tainment of friends." 

Rev. Father Claver. — Forced Remembrance. 

Several negroes being engaged at 
work in a house at some distance 
from a city, one of them went to cut 



88 Month of the Dead. 

wood on a neighboring mountain. As 
he approaclied the forest lie heard 
somebody call him by name from the 
top of a tree. He raised his eyes to- 
wards the place from whence the voice 
came, and not seeing any one, w^islied to 
run away and rejoin his companions. 
But lie was stopped at a narrow path 
by a fearful spectre, who commenced 
to inflict on him heavy blows from 
a whip of red-hot iron, saying at the 
same time, '* Why have you not your 
beads ? Carry them henceforth and 
say them for tlie souls in Purgatory.'* 
He was then ordered to ask the 
mistress of the house tor four crowns 
which she owed, and to carry them to 
Father Claver, to have Masses said for 
the creditor's intention; after which he 
disappeared. Meanwhile the sound of 
the blows and the cries of the negro 
had reached his companions, who, 
hastening to the spot, found him more 
dead than alive, and all bruised by the 
blows he had received, without being 
able to say a word. They carried him 
to the house, where the mistress ac- 
knowledged that she really owed the 
sum in question to a negro who had 



So soon Forgotten ! 89 

died a short time previously. Father 
Claver, having been informed of all the 
details, had tiie Masses said and gave 
a chaplet to the negro, virho, not to be 
found unprovided a second time, had 
already two others in his possession. 

Practice. 

Recite the entire rosary, or a tliird 
part of it, for the souls in Purgatory. 

His Holiness, Pius IX., confirmed other in- 
dulgences, and granted, besides, to all the faith- 
ful who, with at least contrite heart and devo- 
tion, shall say five decades of the rosary in com- 
pany with others, an Indulgence of Ten Years 
and Ten Quarantines, once a day. 

Benedict XIII. granted an Indulgence of One 
Hundred Days for every Our Father d.x\^ every 
Hail Mary. 

Prayer, 

Alas! Lord, have I not abandoned, 
with culpable forgetfulness, souls who 
have a right to my gratitude, parents, 
friends, benefactors ? In future I wish 
to repair such criminal ingratitude. 
Ah ! if I knew of some efficacious means 
to aid these poor souls abandoned in 
the midst of an ocean of sufferings, I 
would employ it even at the expense 



90 Month of the Dead. 

of my life. At least, nothing will be 
able to break the chain of sacrifices 
that I resolve to make till m}^ last sigh, 
and which I refer to Thy glory and to 
their speedy deliverance, above all in 
consideration of the mortal agony and 
the cruel abandonment which Thou 
hast suffered. Deign, O Jesus! to remit 
the punishment which remains for them 
to submit to, so that they can enter the 
eternal kingdom, to W4iich they aspire, 
and where they will praise the ineffable 
greatness of a God who never abandons 
any one. Amen. 



Child ^ for thee thy Father burns. 91 



THIRTEENTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF THE AFFECTIONATE 
AND DEVOTED CHILD. 

Child, for thee thy Father burns ! 

**0 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear 
now the prayer ol the dead of Israel, and of 
their children, that have sinned before Thee, and 
remember not the iniquities of our fathers." — 
Baruch iii. 4, 5. 

We poor children who have been 
struck, through the author of our days, 
by death, has not the voice of all terres- 
trial passions deafened us to such an 
extent that we have never heard this 
sweetly accusing voice break upon the 
silence of niglit murmuring these 
words: *' Child, dost thou remember thy 
father?" When thou camest into the 
world, he loaded thee with caresses. 
His heart beat lovingly when he pressed 
thee in his arms. Under the warmth 
of his love didst thou thrive ; when in 
danger he protected thee ; he initiated 
thee into life. Amono^st all those voices 



92 Month of the Dead, 

which groan so plaintively, dost thou 
not distinguish one whose accents 
speak more eloquently to thy heart? 
Dost thou not hear thy father's blood 
cry, ** For thee, my child, I watched, 
worked, and labored; for thee I im- 
posed on myself all sorts of privations 
and sacrifices. I was ambitious, it is 
true ; but only to acquire a richer in- 
heritance and to form a better position 
for thee. I was all to thee, and thou 
wert all to me. When I was obliged to 
leave thee, I obeyed the voice of God, 
sorrowful, but confiding in the love 
with which my last moments were sur- 
rounded; however, it has passed away 
with time. Thou hast placed over my 
remains a magnificent monument on 
which these words are engraven: *Here 

lies . He was a good father/ 

Leave it unfinished; this simple phrase 
accuses thee. If I was a good father, 
why art thou an ungrateful child? I 
suffer cruelly in this fire of trial; hast 
thou then no tears left to extinguish it ? 
It was not a thought of pride I desired 
over my grave ; this gorgeous monu- 
ment oppresses me. In its place an 
alms; in its place a prayer. Ah! my 



Child, for thee thy FatJier burns, 93 

child, never forget that it is greatly on 
thy account I burn here. A hand, a 
hand, my child, and I am saved! Thou 
didst wish to keep me with thee on 
earth ; and yet, in prolonging my life, 
what wouldst thou have done ? Only 
rendered longer my exile. But to-day, 
in coming to my aid, see, thou snatchest 
me from this burning abyss, givest me 
heaven, God, and a happy eternity! 
Come, then, O my child ; come with thy 
prayer, come with thy good w^orks, 
come with thy devotion. Cherished 
life of my life, for thee have I waited 
long, and thou comest not! What has 
become of thy heart, of thy tenderness? 
And that blood which united us in life, 
and that love which united us in 
happiness, do they no longer speak ot 
thee ?" 

Saint Louis Bertrand's Father. 

We learn from revelations that souls 
have been condemned to the flames of 
Purgatory for one hundred years, five 
hundred years, and some even to the 
day of Judgment. 

Saint Louis Bertrand assures us that 
his father's soul was detained there for 



94 Month of the Dead. 

eight years, notwithstanding his being 
a man of God, honored even by extra- 
ordinary favors, such as several appari- 
tions and conversations with saints ; on 
the other hand, his son was one of the 
great saints of these latter ages, who, 
seeing his father suffer in a manner 
capable of moving the most insensible 
hearts, left nothing undone for his relief. 
During these years he had recited a vast 
number of Rosaries and Psalters, fasted 
with excessive rigor, taken the disci- 
pline every day, offered the holy Sacri- 
fice of the Mass; and this Saint, to 
whom God so readily granted all that 
he asked, could not obtain the deliver- 
ance of the soul of his father, who had 
been a person of eminent virtue, till 
after the expiration of eight years. O 
abyss! incomprehensible are the judg- 
ments of God. Always is it true that 
notliing defiled can enter heaven. 

Practice. 

Remind your family of the members 
who have been carried off by death; 
exhort them to aid their souls, while 
pointing out the means. 



Child, far thee thy Father hints ! 95 

Prayer of the Church, 

O God! Who hast commanded iis to 
honor our father, I humbly implore 
Thee for the soul of my father which 
has been taken from this world. Deliver 
him not, O Lord, into the hands of the 
enemy; but deign to order Thy holy 
angels to meet him and bring him into 
the city of the heavenly Jerusalem. 
Grant that I may yet be reunited to this 
cherished father in eternal beatitude. 

In these sentiments, and for this in- 
tention, I add the following indulgenced 
prayer: 

Blessed be God! 

Blessed be His holy Name! 

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and 
true man! 

Blessed be the Name of Jesus! 

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy 
Sacrament of the altar! 

Blessed be the great Mother of God, 
Mary most holy! 

Blessed be her holy and Immaculate 
Conception! 

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin 
and Mother! 



96 Month of the Dead, 

Blessed be God in His angels and in 
His Saints! 

An Indulgence of One Year each tin>e, and a 
Plenary Indulgence once a month, to all those 
who, having said this prayer at least once a day 
for a month, and being truly penitent after Con- 
fession and Communion, shall visit a church or 
public oratory, and pray there for the intention 
of His Holiness. 



O my Mother ! 97 



FOURTEEATTII DA V. 

OFFICE OF SYMPATHIZER. 

O my Mother! 

** Weeping she hath wept in the night . . . : 
there is none to comfort her among all them that 
were dear to her." — Lam, i. 2. 

Recall to mind that mother to whom 
you have cost infinitely more than you 
can ever imagine or believe. How 
mucli solicitude she has shown, how 
much anguish she has endured ! You 
were her joy, her treasure, her life. 
For nine months did she carry you in 
her w^omb, and still longer nourish you 
with her own substance. So many 
sleepless nights, so many days did she 
pass in agitation ! Poor mother ! for 
every trifling thing you suffered she 
suffered much, and each groan that 
pain drew from you made her almost 
inconsolable. The faintest of your cries 
found echo in her heart; burning and 
bitter tears filled her eyes when your 



98 Mo7ith of the Dead. 

repose was a little disturbed or your 
health threatened. She has done so 
much for you! For you she has re- 
corded so many vows, recited so many 
prayers, solicited s'o much, invoked, 
fatigued heaven ! Through her do 
Mary, the angels, and the saints know 
perfectly all that would be useful or 
interesting to you. Would it not be 
justice and gratitude to make her a 
similar return ? 

O my mother ! Yes, yes, for thee I 
ought, for thee I wish to pray, suffer 
and expiate. O my tender mother ! 
no, no, I will not forget thee; each day 
and night will I think of thee. Thou 
hast given me life amidst suffering; I 
wish in return to tear thee from the 
sufferings of exile, and so give to thee, 
in some measure, the everlasting life of 
heaven. 



Saint Augustine. — Saint Catherine of Bo- 
logna. — Filial Expiation. 

Saint Augustine, addressing the 
readers of his works, recommends to 
them his pious and tender mother, for 
whom he had prayed so much, practised 



O my Mother ! 99 

so many mortifications, and offered so 
many sacrifices during twenty consec- 
utive years. He says: " Inspire, my 
Lord and my God, Thy servants, my 
brethren, and Tiiy children, my supe- 
riors, whom with voice and heart and 
pen I serve, that as many as shall read 
these words may remember at Thy al- 
tar Monica, my mother, and Patrick, 
her husband, so that she may obtain 
through the multitude of supplications 
what she so strongly solicited of me in 
her last hour."* 

Boudon, doctor of theology, and 
Archdeacon of Evreux, said of Blessed 
Catherine of Bologna, whose body is 
miraculously untouched, that God 
granted her favors, when she prayed for 
the souls in Purgatory, which she failed 
to obtain through the intercession of the 
blessed in heaven, and added: ^^ I knew 
a very wise and truly virtuous person, 
who, in making a pilgrimage for the 
soul of one of my parents long since de- 
ceased, saw him as when in life. He 



* Here, pious reader, will you permit both 
writer and translator of these pages to beseech 
a like favor in behalf of deceased parents? 



100 Month of the Dead. 

accompanied her for more than a league, 
and complained that his children had 
not, as was customar}^ offei'ed tapers 
for the service that had been celebrated 
for him. Now, from whom had he 
learned these things, if not from his 
good angel? He conversed with her 
on other very eminent truths, and add- 
ed that his little girl, who had been an 
invalid since his death, suffered for 
him by a special dispensation of divine 
Providence, Who applied her suffer- 
ings to his soul, and as a pi oof of the 
truth of what he said, she would expire 
on this person's next visit. This took 
place as he had foretold. The fact was 
related to me by the person to whom 
it happened." 

Practice, 

Resolve to devote one day of each 
week, for instance Wednesday, to the 
relief of the dead, especially your pa- 
rents, by increasing your prayers and 
good works. 



O my Mother ! lOl 

Prayer composed by Saint Augustine in 
beJialf of his Mother, 

Lord, I implore Thee to pardon the 
offences of my mother. Hear me, I 
conjure Thee by Thy sacred wounds, 
which are the remedy for the wounds 
of our souls, by tliat divine Saviour, 
Who has been pleased to be nailed to 
the cross for us, and Who, being now 
seated at Thy right hand, ceases not to 
intercede for us. I know that she has 
practised works of mercy, and pardoned 
witli all her heart those who had of- 
fended her. Pardon her likewise. Lord, 
and enter not into judgment against 
her. 

Recite the Litany of the Blessed 
Virgin. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days, every 
time this is said with at least contrite heart and 
devotion. Moreover, to all who say it daily, as 
directed above, a Plenary Indulgence on the 
five feasts of obligation of Our Blessed Lady, on 
condition that, on each of these five days, bein^' 
truly penitent, after Confession and Commun- 
ion, they shall visit a church or public oratory, 
and pray there for the intention of the Pope. 

Ejaculation: O Mary, who didst come 
into this world free from s^ain ' obtain 



102 Month of the Dead, 

of God for me that I may leave it with- 
out sin. 

By a rescript from the Office of the Secretary 
of Briefs, March 27, 1863, Pope Pius IX. 
granted to all the faithful who, with at least 
contrite heart and devotion, shall say this 
ejaculation, an Indulgence of One Hundred 
Days, once a day. 



He zvhom I love suffers. 103 



FIFTEENTH DAY, 

OFFICE OF WIFE. 

He whom I love suffers. 

** I beheld, and lo! there was no man." — Jer. iv. 

25. 

My spouse is no more. What do I 
say? I am mistaken: he exists; his 
soul is only separated from liis body. 
This body has returned to dust, it is 
true, but not to annihilation. Faith 
teaches that one day, at the breath of 
the Lord, these particles of matter will 
reunite with his soul, to enjoy together 
the happiness purchased for him by 
his holy death. But in the meanwhile 
'where is his soul? My heart bids me 
hope for his salvation, but it does not 
assure me of his entrance into heaven. 
May he not be in that place of purifi- 
cation lying between the abodes of sor- 
row and joy, where the confused sensa- 
tions of happiness and misfortune com- 
bine ? Ah! the remembrance of his 



104 Month of tJie Dead, 

youth, and even of our ordinary life, 
makes ine fear that there are faults, if 
not to be forgiven, at least to be atoned 
for. For what penance on his part 
have I witnessed? Very little. Oh! 
how I fear that the burning stream, 
formed of the tears of the reprobates, 
only separates him from the abyss 
where the souls undergoing purifica- 
tion would fear being ingulfed if they 
were not reassured by an unceasingly 
revived hope! And am I not partly 
the cause of his sufferings? Ah! into 
how many snares have my vanity and 
sensuality drawn him! How many of 
my irreligious whims have I inclined 
him to satisfy! Without me, how much 
less impatience, uncharitableness, and 
other faults would he have to expiate! 
I am therefore guilty, or, at least, it 
seems but right that I should partake \ 
of the expiations of which I am the 
cause, and, as far as in me lies and 
mutual love exacts, hasten their ter- 
mination. If he were still on earth, with 
what care would I not seek to relieve 
the least of his evils, the smallest of 
his sufferings! And Faith, a more 
faithful and surer witness than my 



He whom I love suffers, 105 

eyes, teaches and even asserts that he 
whom I love suffers, and I liave not 
thought of him. The resolution is taken : 
my widowhood will be devoted to ex- 
piating for both of us, so that we may 
soon be reunited in tlie abode of happi- 
ness without remorse, without sorrow^ 
and without end. 



The Reparation of Honor. 

A gentleman, recently deceased, was 
recommended to the prayers of the 
Visitation Communit}^ in which his 
daughter was a novice. The Vener- 
able Margaret Mary, then mistress of 
novices, exercised her charity in pray- 
ing more particularly for the dead man. 
Some days after the novice recommend- 
ed herself anew to her. " My child," 
said Margaret, *^ be at rest; -your father 
is in a position that enables him to give 
us part of his prayers, without having 
need of ours." She added, '^ Ask your 
mother what generous action her hus- 
band performed before his death. It 
rendered favorable the judgment of 
God." This action was unknown to the 
novice and to everybody, her father 



io6 Month of the Dead. 

having died at quite a distance from 
Paray. She did not see lier mother till 
her profession, v/hen, on asking what 
this act of Christian generosity was, 
she learned that when her father was 
about to receive the Holy Viaticum, a 
butcher of the town joined those who 
accompanied the Blessed Sacrament, 
and placed himself in a corner of the 
room; that the sick man, having dis- 
covered him, called him by name and 
told him to approach, extended his 
hand with friendship, asked pardon 
with a humility uncommon to agentle- 
man of his condition, for some very 
harsh words he had addressed to the 
butcher some time previously, and 
wished that everybody could witness 
the satisfaction he then made. 

Practice. 

Often ask for light to know well 
what is the chief source of the many 
imperfections which you yourself will 
have to expiate, and faults which are 
at this moment the object of expiation 
in Purgatory, and of which you have 
been the accomplice. 



He whom I love suffers, 107 

Frayei'. 

Lord, T believe that this separation 
is not everlasting. Very soon Thou 
wilt demand tlie life that has been en- 
trusted to me. How I desire to be of 
the number of those hoh' souls whose 
consciences reproach them not, to whom 
perfect charity gives hope, and who, 
lamenting the length of their exile, 
seek with ardor the dissolution of their 
bodies! Christian perfection patiently 
supports life and joyfully receives 
death. But I feel that the approach of 
death will afflict and frighten me, still 
so imperfect. O my God! render 
salutary this trial. Let the joy of faith 
dry the tears I shed over the body of 
my husband, which is separated from 
his soul, and grant me grace to weep 
tears of repentance over my soul which 
is separated from Thee, or which is 
unceasingly in danger of being drawn 
from Thee by sin. Make me fear Thee, 
Who hast power to precipitate both 
soul and body into eternal fire. Permit 
not that I efface from my memory the 
remembrance of death, and grant that, 
praying often for him whose death I 



T08 Month of the Dead, 

mourn, I may prepare for mine, and 
tliat I may obtain the spirit of contri- 
tion, final perseverance, and charity in 
which I desire to die. 

Ejaculation: In thy conception, O 
Virgin Mary! thou wast immaculate. 
Pray for us to the Father Whose Son 
Jesus, conceived in thy womb by the 
Holy Ghost, thou didst bring forth. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, every 
time this prayer is said with at least contrite 
heart and devotion. 



Love stronger than Death. 109 



SIXTEENTH DA F. 

OFFICE OF HUSBAND. 

Is not thy Love stronger than Death ? 

** Pray to the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof 
shall be youT peace." — Jeremias xxix. 7. 

Have pity on me, exclaims this lov- 
ing wife who idolized thee, thou for 
whom I left father, mother, the house 
of my ancestors, gave up my native 
land, my home, and even my family 
name in exchange for thine, whose love 
crowned my life; thou on whom fell 
my last glance when leaving the world; 
whose name expired on my dying lips, 
with the sweet name of Jesus ! For 
thee I lived, for thee I died, for thee 
do I suffer and expiate ! Yes, I expiate 
my excessive affection. Formerly thou 
wert the depositary of all my griefs 
and of all the anguish of my heart, the 
support of my weakness. Dost thou 
wish to be nothing more to me ? 
What ! thou wilt abandon me, thou 



1 10 Month of the Dead. 

for whom alone I lived ! Ah ! pity 
my misfortune; be affected by my fate, 
by the fate of a wife to whom thou wilt 
always be dear, and who can never 
prove ungrateful to thee. Place thy- 
self as soon as possible in the state of 
being useful to me by thy prayers. 
Pray, pray much for me: very soon in 
heaven I will pray for thee, so that our 
union may be eternal. 



The Physician's Wife. 

The wife of the doctor attending the 
monastery of the Visitation, at Paray, 
appeared after death to Margaret Mary, 
asking prayers, and at the same time, 
bidding her warn the physician of two 
things which concerned justice and 
salvation. Sister Margaret informed the 
Superior of what she had seen, but this 
sister made light of the vision. She 
imposed silence on Margaret and for- 
bade her to do what had been re- 
quested. The humble religious obeyed 
with simplicity, and with the same 
simplicity told Mother Greffier of a 
second entreaty made by the deceased 
a few days afterwards, which was again 



Love stronger than Death, 1 1 1 

slighted by the Superior. But the fol- 
lowing night she herself was so dis- 
turbed by the horrible noise audible in 
her room, that she thought she would 
die of fright. The assistance of some 
of the sisters came seasonably, as she 
had almost fainted. On reviving, she 
reproached lierself for her incredulity, 
and warned tiie doctor of what had 
been told the servant of God. He 
knew that this advice came from heaven, 
and profited by it. Mother Greffier 
learned by experience tliat if distrust is 
generally the wisest part, it is not 
necessary to carry it too far, especially 
where the glory of God and the good of 
our neighbor may be concerned. 

Practue. 

Make some sacrifice to-day in behali 
of the dead, for example, a good con- 
fession; above all, if you are backward 
in the accomplishment of this duty. 

Fraye7\ 

My God, Thou hast taken my dear 
one from this world; I am resigned. 
Deign Thyself to replace her in my 



1 1 2 Month of the Dead. 

heart. I loved her, Lord, and hoped 
long to enjoy her presence; Thou hast 
arranged otherwise; may Thy holy 
will be accomplished in her and in me. 
My great consolation in this loss is 
the hope that Thou wilt receive her 
into the bosom of Thy mercy and one 
day reunite us. If a debt of satisfac- 
tion for sin detains her amidst suffering 
and deprives her of speedy union with 
Thee, I offer for tliis intention all my 
prayers and good works, and especially 
my resignation in this affliction; render 
it entire and worthy of Tiiee. Supreme 
Ruler of our fate, Absolute Master of 
our destinies, sovereignly dispose of us 
and our days; we do not belong to our- 
selves, but to Thee; Thou hast taken 
what belonged to Thee and was only 
lent for a time to me. Be Thou blessed 
and adored in all Thy providential ar- 
rangements. Amen. 

Ejaculation : Jesus, my God, I love 
Thee above all things. 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days, every time 
that this ejaculation is said with at least con 
trite heart and devotion, or to persons w^ho 
persuade others to recite it, be it those who 
have charge of souls, or work for their salva- 
tion or the sanctification of souls in general. 



Ah ! it is my Child who Groans. 113 



SEVENTEENTH DA Y. 

OFFICE OF FATHER OR MOTHER. 

Ah! It is my Son, it is my Daughter, who groans. 

** For my father and my mother have left me." 
— Ps. xxvi. 10. 

Leaning in spirit on the entrance to 
the gulf of Purgatory, what do I hear? 
Ah! my heart recognizes the voice ! 
Yes, it is my son, my daughter, who 
groans] What can be done to relieve 
my child? Oh! I know. I will pros- 
trate myself in spirit in this abode of 
expiation, and there, seeing my child 
suffer, suffer much; moved with the 
deepest tenderness, I will pray, grieve, 
and say to God: ^' God of mercies, in 
whose presence nothing defiled can 
appear till purified by expiation, my 
child suffers. Thou wouldst destine 
him to glory, but for a time he is 
delivered to trial; marked with the seal 
of life, nevertheless he groans in the 
shade of death which has ravished him 



1 14 Month of the Dead. 

from me. Ab! pardon, accept me for 
my child: behold me a victim, strike 
me; discharge the arrow of Thy justice 
at me, but spare my child I If Thou 
requirest a holier victim, I will offer the 
sacrifice of propitiation in which, 
through Thy divine Son, my supplica- 
tions, tears, prayers, and expiations 
will become acceptable; put an end to 
his tribulations, miseries, and torments^ 
and introduce him into the abode of 
peace, happiness, and glory." 

Such is true parental love: it does 
not exhaust itself in fruitless regrets, 
in useless tears, but prays, sacrifices, 
and immolates itself to aid the soul of 
the beloved child who ordinarily suf- 
fers in the place of purification, when 
he dies some years after reaching the 
age of reason, during which time he has 
not been entirely faultless. 



Saint Francis de Sales. — A Mother pardons 
the Murderer of her Son. 

Saint Francis de Sales relates the 
following anecdote which happened at 
Padua, where he went through part of 
his studies: 



Ah ! it is my Child zvho groans, 115 

"The students of this university/* 
said he, *Miad the bad habit of running 
about the streets with weapons at 
night, asking, ^ Who goes there ?' and 
firing upon those who made no reply. 

"It chanced to pass that a scholar 
giving no answer to this question was 
killed, and that he who had murdered 
him sought refuge in the iiouse of a 
good widow whose son was his friend 
and companion. He implored her to 
conceal him, confessing what he had 
done. 

"This good widow shut him up in a 
secret place, and behold! a short time 
after the news of her son's death 
readied her. It did not require a long 
inquiry to know who was his murderer. 
In tears, she went to him and said, 
'Alas! what had my son done that you 
killed him so cruelly?' The other, con- 
vinced that she alluded to his friend, 
began to weep and tear his hair, and, 
instead of seeking pardon, fell on his 
knees, begging to be placed in the 
hands of the law, so as to make public 
atonement for such a horrible crime. 

" This extremely merciful and Christ- 
ian mother was so touched by the sor- 



1 1 6 Month of the Dead, 

row of the young man that she replied 
that, provided he asked pardon of God 
and promised to change his life, she 
would allow him to go unpunished. 
This great act of clemency was so pleas- 
ing in the sight of Heaven, that the soul 
of her child was permitted to appear to 
her, assuring lier that in consideration 
of the charitable pardon granted to the 
one who had unintentionally killed him, 
and for which she could have easily and 
legitimately sued for vengeance, his 
soul had been released from Purgatory, 
where it would otherwise have been 
long detained. 

^'Oh! blessed are the merciful, for 
they shall obtain mercy for themselves 
and others! " 

Practice. 

Associate your child, or continue to 
pay, as if in life, his membership to the 
Work of the Holy Infancy, which Saves 
so many orphans. 

Prayer, 

Remember, O most pure spouse of 
the blessed Virgin Mary, my sweet pro- 



Ah ! it is my Child who groans. 117 

tector, Saint Joseph! that no one ever 
had recourse to Thy protection, or im- 
plored Thy aid, without obtaining re- 
lief. Confiding therefore in Thy good- 
ness, I come before Thee and humbly 
supplicate thee. Oh! despise not my 
petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer, 
but graciously receive them. Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, once a 
day. 



1 1 8 Month of the Dead. 



EIGHTEENTH DAY. 

OFFICE OF BROTHER OR SISTER. 

My Brother, my Sister, help! 

'* For ihe rest, brethren, pray for us." — 2 Thess. 
iii. I. 

Cherished brother, beloved sister, the 
sad and distressing sight of my agony, 
my anguish and struggle against death 
still affect you. Overcome by them, my 
soul has been precipitated into a place 
of suffering, v^hicii nevertheless does not 
deprive me of the hope of meeting you 
again. But if you only knew my suffer- 
ings! Ah! how many bitter tears would 
flow from your eyes! I burn in aveng- 
ing flames, I become pure by inexpress- 
ible expiation. Help! aid me. 

Have pity on me, you who know that 
beyond the grave there exists a place 
where pity consoles, relieves, and de- 
livers. Forget me not! 

Help! you wlio shared m.y existence 
and who have been willing to lessen the 



My Brother, my Sister, help ! 119 

number of your days to increase or re- 
lieve mine. 

Help! you who shared the same table, 
the same bed, the same dwelling. 

Help! you who possess and love to 
survey my estates; you who claim and 
glor}^ in my titles; you who adorn your- 
self from my wardrobe. Forgetful or 
inattentive, insensible or ungrateful, 
listen to my voice, which from the deptli 
of the abyss cries continually to you, 
*' Have pity on me!^' 

Help! you at least through whose 
veins flows the same blood, you who 
have so many reasons for thinking of 
me I Do you then wish that day by day, 
hour by hour, minute by minute, my 
love should carry all the burden of 
justice? And you leave me to pay, 
perliaps by ages of suffering, what you 
could discharge by a single day of sac- 
rifice. Nevertheless, you love me ! You 
wept much at m.y funeral, and have 
shed many tears over my grave; and 
to-day you think not of throwing on 
these consuming flames the .dew of 
prayer, and the still more •efficacious 
dew of the Blood of Jesus Christ, 



1 20 Month of the Dead, 

Walsh. — The Brother of a Protestant. 

I knew, says the Viscount Walsh, a 
Lutheran who was converted by our 
belief in Purgatory. He had lost a 
clierished brother in the midst of a 
feast, and, to the torture of his heart, he 
unceasingly thought of that rapid pass- 
age from an orgie to a coffin. His mind 
needed to be reassured; he knew of the 
purity that is required in heaven, and in 
his religion he did not find an inter- 
mediate state between the celestial 
porch and the depth of the abyss. His 
leligion taught him that as soon as the 
last breath is exhaled the judgment of 
God takes place — the sudden, instan- 
taneous, irrevocable judgment. Oh! 
then his dread became heait-rending 
anguish. He had no more peace. His 
days passed without recreation, his 
nights without sleep, his thoughts with- 
out hope; he visibly pined away, and 
likewise inclined towards the grave, 
towards the grave of his brother which 
he was bound to share as a family 
bed. 

He was ordered to travel; but he 
said: '* I will not have time to go far; 



M}^ Brother, my Sister, help ! 121 

I will die at an inn attended by mer- 
cenary strangers. And when I shall 
close my eyes, they will be obliged to 
search my papers to ascertain the name 
fof the traveller who went to rest for- 
ever, and who has no more need of any- 
thing but a lodging in a cemetery.'* 
His friends united with the physician, 
and the young Scotchman went on the 
Continent. I was on the same vessel, 
and very soon we entered into conver- 
sation. 

When we disembarked, we lodged in 
the same liotel; after some days, he told 
me what had spread so much gloom 
over his youthful years, the death of his 
brother and his uneasiness concerning 
the eternal destiny of one he so much 
loved. ''Ah!" said he to me on All 
Souls' Day, ''through love for my 
brother I am going to adopt your rite! 
Oh! when I will pray for m}^ brother, 
I will breathe, I will live to implore 
each day the happiness of heaven for 
him I so much cherished on earth! 
Your belief is that we can still aid each 
other after death. Your prayers take 
from the tomb its terrible silence; 
you converse again with those who 



122 Month of the Dead. 

have departed; you have known hu- 
man frailty, that weakness which with- 
out being a crime is not purity; and, 
between the limits of heaven and hell, 
God has revealed a place of expia- 
tion. My brother may be tliere. I be- 
come a Catholic to deliver him, for my 
consolation here below, my relief of the 
burden wdiich oppresses me: this bur- 
den I will feel no longer when I can 
pray." 

Practice. 

Devote some of your pocket-money 
to spreading about little books treating 
of Purgatory. 

Prayei\ 

Is it not to me, Lord, that these com- 
plaints and cries for help are addressed? 
Have I not in Purgatory a brother (or 
sister) who has sacred claims on my 
friendship and even gratitude, and 
whom I have cruelly abandoned ? O 
my God! I deplore tlie ingratitude, 
the indifference of w^hich I have been 
guilty. No, in future I will leave 
nothing undone to repair it. Holy 



My Brother, my Sister^ help ! 123 

Angels, 3^011 do not neglect, as we do, 
these just souls, these souls who have 
honored you in life. They are unable 
to make audible lamentations; but 3^ou 
supply for this mability by recalling 
them to our remembrance and interior- 
ly inviting us to pray for them. En- 
lighten me always with your salutary 
inspirations; obtain for me that spirit 
of contemplation and prayer which 
keeps you in continual ecstary before 
the throne of the August Trinity, and 
my prayer, blended with yours, will ob- 
tain for me and for these poor souls 
celestial clemency. 

Angel of God, my guardian dear. 
To whom His love commits me here. 
Ever this day be at my side, 
To light and guard, to rule and guide. 

Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days, every 
time, to those who recite this prayer throughout 
the year morning and evening, and a Plenary 
Indulgence on the Feast of the Guardian Angels 
(Oct. 2d), and also at the hour of death, if it has 
been frequently recited, provided the faithful 
shall- have the recuiired dispositions. 



224 Mojtth of the Dead. 



NIA^ETEEIVTH DA V. 

OFFICE OF FRIEND. 

Friend, dost thou still love me? 

'*Have pity on me, at least you my friends, 
because the hand of the Lord hath touched me." 
— Joi^ xix. 21. 

Recall to mind that ever-constan 
and faithful friend, that friend of whom 
you were proud and happy, whom you 
rightly considered a present, a gift 
from Heaven. Ah! what misfortune you 
have occasioned him! To please you 
and satisfy even your caprices, he 
thought too much of you and not 
enough of his own soul: he forgot 
himself for 3'ou. 

Prematurely swept away by implac- 
able death, where is he ? Listen to him 
as he tells you, while groaning: ^M was 
about to receive a favorable sentence 
at the tribunal of the Supreme Judge, 
when the angel of Satan recalled my 
affection for thee, if not criminal, at 



Friend, dost thou still love me ? 125 

least unlawful and too natural; and 
tills accusation, dropped in the balance 
of justice, inclined the scale as tar as 
the brink of Purgatory, which opened 
and received me in its prison embrace. 
Friend, for thee do I suffer; on thy ac- 
count do I expiate. Ah! thou at least, 
my friend, have pity on me, because the 
hand of the Lord hath struck me! thou, 
the confidant of my sorrows and of my 
most secret thoughts! thou whom I 
loved as myself — what do I say? more 
than myself, even to excess; — thou for 
whom I would give a thousand lives; 
thou for whom I have sacrificed, alas! 
my soul's peace, and exposed its salva- 
tion; thou who, when I was on earth, 
didst show thyself sensitive to my least 
anxiety, to my slightest misfortune. 
Ah ! pray, expiate for me, thou who canst 
do so. If I receive no aid from thee, 
from whom can I expect it ?" Tell me, 
dost thou not recognize this plaintive 
voice ? Ah! he who cries to thee is the 
very same whose days thou didst wish 
to prolong, whose every sigh, in his 
greatest woe, was a wound to your 
heart; he whom your arms clasped as if 
to prevent him from leaving you with 



126 Month of the Dead, 

life, and whose hand when dying you 
still held, all emaciated as it was. Yes, 
that hand, all chilled by death, whicli 
you pressed within your own when 
tallino- into the abyss, he to-day 
stretches up from its depths all burning 
with the fires of justice; and rising above 
the burning lake which consumes him, 
lie cries to you, like an unhappy wretch 
carried away by the violent current of 
a stream, " A iiand, a hand, my friend, 
and I am saved!" 



Richard CcEur-de-Lion and the Count of 
Blondel. 

Richard Coeur-de-Lion, the hero 
of the Third Crusade, after winning 
fame by incredible exploits in Pales- 
tine, where his name still signifies 
terror to the Mussulmans, had dis- 
appeared while traversing German}^ 
a victim of the blackest and most odious 
perfidy. His absence spi-ead a veil 
of sadness over the whole army, and 
those proud and haughty victors sadly 
lowered their heads when asked what 
had become of this incomparably brave 
soldier and immortal hero. Very soon 



Friend, dost thou still love me ? 127 

that which unhappily occurs but too 
often took place: the kindness of kin- 
dred and the charms of the paternal 
roof made them foro^et the one to 
whom they owed their life and return. 
Richard was forgotten. 

Fortunately he had an intimate, 
generous, and devoted friend; this was 
the Count of Blondel. 

For Blondel, his native land without 
Richard w^as a horrible, dreadful exile; 
and the idea that such a friend might 
be in chains drew sorrowful groans and 
bitter tears from him day and night. 
His heart and his eyes turned constant- 
ly towards the pitiless skies of Ger- 
many, never ceasing to reclaim the 
most valiant and most generous of 
princes. Finally, he made a strange, 
surprising, hopeless resolution. He 
would cross the seas anew; but how es- ' 
cape the active and jealous vigilance 
of the Duke of Austria, whom he had 
reason to regard as the cruel and bar- 
barous jailer of his friend. But how 
skilful is charity! Young and full of 
strength, he disguised himself as an old 
man, an invalid; the rich and powerful 
Count transformed himself into a men- 



1 2 8 Mouth of the Dead. 

dicant, a poor person; he concealed his 
eagle glance beneath his eyelids, and 
nobody could see in him more than an 
unfortunate blind man; the rags of in- 
digence covered the shoulders of the 
most elegant and brilliant of knights; a 
lute took the place of the terrible lance 
and murderous sword. A dog to lead 
him was his only escort, and that re- 
sounding voice, which had lately on the 
field of battle made the proudest and 
boldest warrior tremble, warbled now, 
with a sad but delightful harmony, the 
serious songs and ballads of a trouba- 
dour. Blondel a troubadour! he who, 
after Richard, was the most illustrious 
of heroes. What a transformation! 
what a metamorphosis! It was impossi- 
ble to recognize him. And this is 
precisely what he wished; he desired 
neither to be recognized nor suspected; 
he sought, he wished to find — he would 
find Richard. 

He travelled over Germany in all 
directions, everywhere repeating, and 
especially at the foot of prisons and 
castles, these sweet and touching words: 
*^If you conceal the object for whom 
my heart sighs," etc. He always gained 



Friendy dost thou still love me ? 129 

good will, interest, and compassion, but 
in no place did he encounter him for 
whom his heart sighed. 

Nevertheless, this incomparable Blon- 
de), wasting away with grief and over- 
come by fatigue, was commencing to 
despair, when one evening, as night 
fell, seated on a stone at the foot of a 
castle black with age, his eyes in turn 
fixed on his dog, his onl}^ consolation, 
and his lute, his only expedient, he 
said, ''1 will sing a last time and then 
die. Itisdone. Adieu, sweet hope," etc. 
At these wordsthe silent tower reechoed 
a strong and powerful cry, O happi- 
ness! O transport! it is he, it is Richard! 
*' O my friend, O my king!" cried Blon- 
del, "keep up your courage; I come, I 
hasten to thee." And the troubadour, 
become again a knight, daringly pre- 
sented himself to the Duke of Austria, 
and so surprised and dismayed him 
that Richard was set free. 

Ah! if the souls in Purgatory had 
each a Blondel for a friend, how very 
soon would they be liberated! If only 
once a year, at the time of the Commem- 
oration of the Dead, a poor peison in a 



1 30 Month of the Dead, 

city or town would take upon herself 
the mission of selling near a cemetery 
where their bodies repose this little 
book written in their behalf, ah! how 
many Blondels would it raise up! for 
which of us has not a friend abandoned 
in slavery ? For this friend, if the re- 
membrance is revived, with far less 
sacrifices, dangers, privations, and 
fatigues than tlie immortal friend of 
King Richard, we shall have the inef- 
fable consolation that he had, that of 
procuring liberty and giving a glorious 
fatherland to the most interesting and 
most deserving of exiled captives. 

Practice. 

Would it not be opportune to dis- 
tribute gratis or even to have this little 
book sold as a souvenir of the deceased, 
or to facilitate prayer in his favor on 
the day of burial, or on that of services 
for parents, friends, benefactors, and ac- 
quaintances, or on All Souls' Day ? 



Friend, dost thou still love me ? 131 

Prayer, 

O God, Who hast commanded us to 
love one another, I come to implore 
pardon for the souls in Purgatory, and 
in particular for that of my friend 

N who maybe groaning there and 

waiting for efficacious help from me. 
Although, by reason of my own iniqui- 
ties, I ought not to speak to Thee with- 
out trembling, deign, through Thy in- 
finite mercy, to hear the cry of my heart 
in his (her) favor. Have pity on that 
soul who may be suffering on my ac- 
count in the purifying flames of that 
place of expiation, and grant that, in- 
troduced from this moment into 
heaven, I may one day be reunited to 
him (her) in this abode of eternal hap- 
piness. 

Ejaculation: My queen! my mother! 
remember I am thine own. Keep me, 
guard me, as thy property and posses- 
sion. 

An Indulgence of Forty Days every time that, 
when tempted, the faithful shall say, with at least 
contrite heart and devotion, this short ejacula- 
tion. 



1 32 Month of the Dead. 



TWENTIETH DAY, 

OFFICE OF PROTECTOR. 

The most Abandoned. 

*' She was alone in the field; she cried, and 
there was no man to help her." — Deuteronomy 
xxii. 27. 

Happy the dead who liave on earth a 
father or mother, son or daughter, 
brother or sister, friend or acquaint- 
ance, who prays every day for them. 
But alas! how man)^ have left after 
them no one interested in their fate! 

If God would permit souls to return 
again amidst the tumult of this world, 
and revisit the places where they had 
been so beloved and wliere was centred 
all their happiness, what would they 
hear? Yes, says Father Felix, if they 
came, invisible witnesses, to lend ear 
to the discourses which are held at 
your winter amusements, tell me, how 
many times during those long enter- 
tainments would tliey hear their name 



The mos t A bandoncd, 133 

recalled by those whom they once 
deemed as friends? Alas! more fre- 
quently, after having listened to con- 
versations in w^hich nothing is said of 
them when living, they would return in 
sorrow to that abyss, and cry in a dis- 
consolate way: ^'Ah! it is over, over 
forever! We are all forgotten, and be- 
hold! not even a thouglit connects us 
with earth. Everywhere it is forget- 
fulness — forgetfulness of my life, of 
wliich no more mention is made; for- 
getfulness of my name, which already 
is no longer pronounced; forgetfulness 
of my tomb, which is visited no more; 
forgetfulness of my death, over which 
friends no longer weep; forgetfulness 
even at home, where nobody remem- 
bers me; forgetfulness in the hearts of 
my friends, of whom not one will again 
weep for me/' Let us add: forgetful- 
ness on the part of parents, neither of 
whom seems to remember that the 
same blood courses through our veins; 
forgetfulness even by those who are 
now enjoying our possessions, the fruits 
of so much labor, without thinking of 
employing even the hundredth part in 
relieving those who bequeathed it to 



1 34 Month of the Dead. 

them. Forgetfulness, abandonment 
everywhere! 



God's Preference for and Compensation to 
the Abandoned. 

One New Year's Day, Venerable 
Margaret Mary prayed earnestly for 
tliree persons- lately deceased, of whom 
two were religious and the third secu- 
lar. Our Lord showed all tliree to 
her, saying, ^* Which one dost thou 
wish me to give thee?" The servant 
of God, profoundly humbling herself, 
entreated our Lord to make the choice 
Himself, according to His greater glory 
and good pleasure. Then He delivered 
the soul of the secular, saying that He 
had less compassion for religious, be- 
cause they had, in fidelity to the prac- 
tice of their rule, moi-e means of merit- 
ing and expiating their daily faults dur- 
ing life. 

On another occasion, wdiilst pi-aying 
for a person of great renown in the 
world, the object of her prayers was 
shown to her as condemned for many 
years to the sufferings of Purgatory, 
notwithstanding the solemn services 



The most A bandoned, 135 

and the great number of Masses that 
liad been offered for her; all these 
prayers and suffrages being applied by 
divine Justice to the souls of some 
families of her subjects who had been 
ruined by her want of cliarity and 
justice in their regard; and, as no one 
was left to intercede for them after 
death, God supplied for this in the 
manner we have just mentioned. 



Practice, 

Perform some act of humility to-day, 
or devote a few minutes to reading 
about this excellent virtue. 



Prayer, 

O Jesus, abandoned by all, even Thy 
apostles, in the garden of Gethsemani, 
deign to cast Thine eyes of mercy on all 
the souls in Purgatory, especially on 
those who receive neither prayers nor 
consolations; who are forgotten, and 
whose anniversaries are not celebrated; 
give them a share in the prayers, 
Masses, and good works, the merit of 



1^6 Month of the Dead, 

which is not applied to those for whom 
they are offered. Amen. 

For the indulgenced prayer recite 
the Memorare : 

Remember, O most gracious Virgin 
Mary! that never was it known that 
any one that fled to thy protection, im- 
plored thy help, and sought thy inter- 
cession was left unaided. Inspired 
with tliis confidence, I fly unto thee, O 
Virgin of virgins, my Mother! To thee 
I come; before thee I stand, sinful and 
sorrowful. O Mother of the Word in- 
carnate! despise not my petitions, but, 
in thy mercy, hear and answer me. 
Amen. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days each 
time, and a Plenary Indulgence once a month, to 
those who. being truly penitent, after Confession 
and Communion, shall visit a church or public 
oratory and pray there for the Pope. 



God ivishes it. 137 



TWENTY FIRST DAY. 

OFFICE OF REPAIRER. 

God wishes it. 

"The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord: 
nor any of them that go down to hell. But we 
that live, bless the Lord, from this time now and 
lor ever." — Ps. cxiii. 17. 

If Saint Teresa and others have de- 
clared they would suffer all the tor- 
ments imaginable to procure one more 
degree of glory for God, what would 
they not do, what would they not suffer, 
for the deliverance of the souls detained 
in the purifying flames, since this 
would procure Him not only one but 
millions of degrees of exterior gloiy 
from the praises and blessings of His 
creatures? This glory, of which He is 
jealous, can be purchased b}^ our good 
works, and applied to these virtuous 
souls for all eternity, because the elect 
unceasingly bless Him and praise His 
mercies. He loves these souls, and in 
return is loved by them. He desires to 



1 3 8 Month of the Dead. 

be united to them; His heart suffers at 
their sad exile and sorrowful separa- 
tion from the Supreme Good; but Jus- 
tice, which has its rights as well as Good- 
ness, detains them in prison till the last 
farthing is paid. He is a Father Wlio 
withholds Himself from the embraces of 
His son; Who, with severe countenance, 
forbids him to come in His presence 
as long as his fault is not repaired by 
tears and regrets. But what joy for 
this good Father, and how delightfully 
His tenderness is affected, if a friend, 
a mediator, interposing between the 
chastisement and the fault, comes to 
disarm His rigor, offers acceptable ex- 
cuses, and reconciles Him with the child 
of His love! We are these friends, 
ihese mediators who can obtain pardon 
for tiie souls experiencing divine Jus- 
tice. God does not ask better than to 
hear us. He willingly avails Himself 
of our prayers; He even invites us to 
urge, lo conjure Him and force pardon 
by the holy irn[)ortunity of our pious 
supplications. Therefore, if we love 
God, we v^ill not neglect so easy and 
sweet a w^ay of contributing to His 
glory. We sometimes regret not being 



God ivishes it. 139 

able to glorify God like those apostles 
who by tlieir preaching gained souls 
and entire nations for Him. I invite 
yv)n to-day to the exercise of a new 
apostolate, not less glorious to God in 
certain respects, but not less fruitful 
for heaven. Behold ! these desolate 
souls are a riglueous nation whom you 
need not struggle to convert, but to 
free • from debt; not to give to the 
Church, but to establish in the posses- 
sion of celestial happiness. You need 
not cross the seas, surmount the waves, 
study unknown languages: a prayer, an 
alms will suffice for this easy conquest. 
You will not have to fear for the final 
perseverance of your proselytes, as they 
are already settled in unchangeable 
bliss. 

Zeal of Saint Francis Borgia. 

Saint Francis Borgia, formerly Duke 
of Candia, was greatly affected when 
thinking of the sufferings of the souls 
in Purgator)^ considering that these 
same victims of the justice of God were 
His spouses and would very soon en- 
joy His embrace. He sometimes spoke 



140 Month of the Dead. 

of experiencing extreme confusion up- 
on interceding for the fauhful departed 
— he who had been so long instrumental 
in sending souls to hell: such was his 
humilit3\ He saw the souls of his 
wufe and daughter ascend to heaven, as 
well as that of Father Pierre Lefevre. 
The soul of Don Juan Henriquez, Mar- 
quis of .Alcanize, liis son-in-law, had 
been one of those who were indebted 
to him for the advancement of happi- 
ness, and came to testify gratitude. At 
the time of his sickness in Valladolid, 
the Marchioness was with the Saint at 
Toro. She requested him to offer the 
Divine Sacrifice for her husband. This 
he did, and on leaving the altar in- 
formed her that the Marquis had 
breathed his last as Mass commenced, 
and that, at its conclusion, he had the 
privilege of beholding the soul so dear 
to her in the enjoyment of eternal hap- 
piness. 

Practice. 

Resolve to accompany the Holy Vi- 
aticum. There are numerous indul- 
gences attached to this practice. 



God wishes it. 141 



Prayer. 

O God! Who pardoneth sinners and 
loveth the salvation of man, we suppli- 
cate Thy mercy through the interces- 
sion of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, 
and of all the saints, to give eternal 
beatitude to our brothers, parents, and 
benefactors who are gone from this 
world, and in general to all the faithful 
departed, through Our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Amen. 

Ejaculation: May the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus be loved everywhere. 

By a rescript, Sept. 23, i860, Pope Pius IX. 
granted to all the faithful who shall say this 
ejaculation an Indulgence of One Hundred 
Days, once a day. 



142 Month of the Dead, 



TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 

OFFICE OF SUPPLIANT. 

Pray, pray! 

" It is therefore a holy, and wholesome 
thought to pray for the dead, that they may be 
loosed from sins." — 2 Machabees xii. 46. 

Prayer is the first means of aiding 
the souls in Purgatory, the chief liber- 
ating key of this prison. Prayer for the 
dead glorifies God, assists the suffering 
souls, and benefits the living. It gives 
glory to God in procuring new adorers 
in heaven, if only one day sooner. It 
helps the dead in alleviating their suf- 
ferings, and even in delivering them 
entirely. It benefits the heart from 
which it proceeds: it is so sweet to 
speak of those we love, to think of those 
we cherish ! And then, is not prayer 
for the departed our balm, our only 
consolation ? Useful to our soul, this 
prayer leads it to enter into itself, to 
reflect on the decisive moment follow- 



Praj', pray ! 143 

ing death, to amend, to render itself 
more irreproachable, to prepare to 
appear before the Supreme Judge. 

Besides, it is recommended to us by 
different Councils, especially those of 
Florence and Trent. 

Popes have encouraged it. Celestine 
I. said that the custom of praying for 
the dead had been ahmost enforced by 
law by the prince of the Apostles. Two 
centuries later, in order to awaken the 
compassion of the faithful, St. Gregory 
the Great said that the more dignified 
a soul was the more it suffered. 

In 1849 PiiJS IX. founded a Mass in 
perpetuity for the French who died 
within the walls of Rome while trying 
to re-establish it, and in i860 and con- 
secutive years he had a solemn service 
celebrated for the brave volunteers who 
fell victims in the cause of the Church. 

The Doctors and holy Fathers speak 
frequently of its efficacy. St. Paul 
prays for Onesiphore: ^' May the Lord 
show him mercy on the last day!" Saint 
Epiphanius victoriously demonstrates 
that nothing is more useful, natural, or 
proper to excite admiration than this 
almost universal practice of praying for 



144 Month of the Dead. 

the dead. Saint Ephrem said: *'Pray 
for me after my death." St. Ambrose 
prayed constantly for the Emperor 
Theodosius. Saint Augustine made 
supplication for his mother. Saint John 
of Damascus said that those who die 
in a state of grace derive considerable 
help from the prayers recited for 
them. 

Therefore I will pray for them with 
confidence, since nothing on their part 
can compromise the effect of my prayer; 
I will pray often ; I will pray with 
fervor at the invitation of the Church, 
to obey the voice of religion and of 
nature. 

Efficacy of Prayer for the Dead, 

Tertullian relates that he knew a 
woman born of Christian parents, who 
died in the flower of her age, shortly 
after marriage. She fell asleep in the 
peace of the Lord. At the moment the 
priest commenced the prayers custom- 
ary before burial, her hands were seen 
to cross on her breast, only falling to 
her side at the conclusion of the service. 
We see by this and the following strik- 



Pray, pray ! 145 

ing fact that prayer for the dead can 
be traced back to the first ages of 
Cliristianity. 

*'As we were all praying in prison,'* 
says Saint Perpetua, " after our con- 
demnaiion to the wild beasts, the name 
of Denocratius suddenly escaped me. 
This Denocratius was my brother ac- 
cording to the fiesii; at seven years of 
age he had unliappily died from a can- 
cer in the face, which made him a horror 
to everybody. The remembrance of 
his misfortune afflicted me; I was 
astonished at his not having appeared 
to me yet in spirit, and immedi- 
ately knew that I ought to pray for 
him. Thereupon I commenced to do 
so with fervor, lamenting in the sight of 
God. The following night I had a 
vision in wliich I saw Denocratius come 
forth from a gloomy place inhabited by 
many persons. He experienced great 
heat and thirst, his countenance was 
dejected, his color wan, the ulcer he 
had in life still visible. A great dis- 
tance, hindering approach, lay between 
us. Near him rested a large, deep basin 
filled with water. In vain did he strive 
to drink; he could not reach it. This 



1 46 Month of the Dead. 

afflicted me greatly. I awoke and rec- 
ognized that my brother was suffering, 
but with the certainty tliat I could re- 
lieve him. I prayed for him, tearfully 
^entreating God day and night to grant 
me his deliverance. After some days 
he again appeared to me with blameless, 
well-dressed body, taking refreshment; 
a scar replaced the sore. The height of 
the basin w^as diminished, and the child 
drank unceasingly from a gold phial, 
till, being completely satiated, he joy- 
fully quitted tne water to play as chil- 
dren do. Upon awaking I felt con- 
fident that he had been freed from 
pain." 

We see, from this beautiful example 
of ecclesiastical antiquity, the belief of 
the Church has at all times been that 
there exists a place and state of expia- 
tion after this life. Saint Augustine, 
who knew the authenticit}^ of Saint 
Perpetua's acts, and wdio has pro- 
nounced her revelations to be even as 
edifying as the triumph of her martyr- 
dom, remarks that this child must have 
been guilty of some sins after Baptism; 
for there are children who have somiC 
use of their reason before the age of 



Pray, pray ! 147 

seven years. But as it is not well 
developed, their sins are not such as 
merit eternal damnation. This is why- 
it is necessary to pray for them with 
confidence, hoping to be useful to them, 
as we see that Denocratius was really 
released from punishment through the 
prayers of his sisten 



Practice. 

Recite some prayer for the faithful 
departed both morning and evening. 



Prayer of the Church. 

May the humble prayers we address 
to Thee, Lord, for the souls of Thy ser- 
vants departed, be acceptable in Thy 
sight, and obtain for them that, freed 
from the bonds of sin, the}^ may enjoy 
the fruit of Thy redemption; Who 
Hveth and reigneth with God the 
Father^ in the unity of the Holy Ghost, 
forever and ever. Amen. 



An Indulgence of Fifty Days for all those 
who, when they meet one another, shall say: 



148 Month of the Dead. 

Praise be to Jesus Christ; and answer. 
Forever. Amen. 

By rescript, June 25, i865, Pius IX, granted 
an Indulgence of Three Hundred Days, once a 
day, to all the faithful who shall say the follow- 
ing ejaculation: 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, 
make my heart like unto Thine. 



Divine Blood is necessary, 149 



TWENTY-THIRD DAY, 

OFFICE OF VICTIM. 

Bfood! Blood! Divine Blood is necessary. 

**He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin 
which is not to death, let him ask, and life shall 
be given to him who sinneth not to death." — • 
X John V. 16. 

Without doubt, prayers for the dead 
are efficacious. Yes, they are always 
like a refreshing dew which lessens 
the violence of the avenging flames. 
But nothing equals tlie Blood of our 
Saviour in extinguishing this consum- 
ing fire. 

Blood ! Blood ! divine Blood is 
necessary for our prompt and entire 
deliverance, cry the suffering souls. 

Just one, thy prayers are useful and 
desired ; but the voice of the Blood of 
Jesus pleads infinitely better in our be- 
half. Moreover, this redeeming and 
atoning*Blood pays our debts and de- 
livers us. 

Sinner, thy prayers issuing from a 



150 Month of the Dead, 

heart at enmity with God, and perse- 
vering in a state which death would 
but overtake to plunge forever into the 
depths of hell, how dost thou wish to 
win the clemency of the Sovereign 
Judge for us ? 

But hearken. If thou persistest in 
thy wish to aid us, notwithstanding thy 
frightful condition, behold the way to 
do so, indirectly it is true, but effica- 
ciously and easily. Have the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass offered for our 
intention. The Blood of Jesus works 
through its own virtue. 

" I except from the rule of dead 
works," says Father Bourdaloue, that 
grave and wise preacher of the time of 
Louis XIV., " the Sacrifice of the 
Mass, the merit of which does not 
depend on the sanctity of the offerer, 
much less on him who has it offered, 
but is only attached to the person of 
Jesus Christ and the value of His 
precious Blood ; from whence it fol- 
lows that a sinner, even in the state of 
licentiousness, can contribute to the 
repose of the souls in Purgatory; and 
how } By having this Sacrifice, of 
which one of the chief properties is 



Divine Blood is rtecessary. 151 

that of being sovereignly propitiatory 
for the living and the dead, offered for 
them. He can do it, I say, and still 
more ought to doit, since this Sacrifice 
is tlie only way left him by God to 
supply the inability to aid these pre- 
destined souls he otherwise finds in 
himself; for then God regards the 
Victim presented to Him, who is Jesus 
Christ, and not the one who officiates 
or the care with which He is offered.*' 

Therefore, behold the holiest Victim 
and richest ransom to present for the 
souls in Purgatory, in Masses said, 
offered, or heard. Nevertheless, let us 
observe that though a single drop of 
the Blood of our Redeemer would* 
alone be sufficient to ransom all the 
world and to extinguish the expiatory 
fire of Purgatory, God does not will it 
so. It is even certain that the infinite 
value of this divine Blood is not always 
or entirely applied to the soul for whom 
it is presented. 

The proof of this doctrine is in the 
teaching and practice of the Church. 

From this it follows that it is good 
to have the Holy Sacrifice offered many 
times for the same person. 



1 5 2 Month of the Dead, 

Testimony of Saints on the Efficacy of the 
'Mass. 

Saint Augustine offered the Holy 
Sacrifice for his mother, Saint Monica, 
during the space of twenty years. 

Saint Bernard relates that he was 
severely reprimanded by an angel, for 
having after eight years discontinued 
praying and celebrating holy Mass for 
his father. 

Saint Malachy had a sister who died 
after leading a worldly life. For a long 
time he recommended her soul to God 
at the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. 
Having ceased to do so for the space 
of thirty days, he was informed in a 
dream that his sister waited sorrow- 
fully in the cemetery, and that she had 
been thirty days without spiritual 
nourishment. He renewed his practice 
of praying, and every day said a Mass 
or had one offered for her intention. 
Sometimes it seemed to him he saw her 
at the door of the church, then even in 
it. Finally, after the expiration of some 
days, whilst he was at the altar, she ap- 
peared to him in the midst of a band of 
the blessed, in possession of eternal hap- 



Divine Blood is necessary. 153 

piness. This gave him great consola- 
tion. 

We read in L Advocat des dmes dti 
Furgatoire, of 1645: "Blessed de Suso 
relates that while pursuing his studies 
he made an engagement with one of 
his brothers, that the one who survived 
the other would say every Monday, for 
a year, the Mass for the Dead, and that 
of the Passion on Wednesday, for the 
repose of the soul of his companion. 
Some time after the deceased came to 
reproach Suso for his infidelit}^; at 
which he replied he had not said all the 
Masses, but had prayed for him every 
day. 'That is not enough,' said his 
friend, 'for less than to pour the Blood 
of Jesus on my flames will not extin- 
guish or soften my martyrdom.' This 
gentle reprimand obliged Suso to fulfil 
his promise, and the soul of his com- 
panion lingered not long in Purgatory, 
as very soon he saw it ascend to 
heaven." 

Practice, 

Have Masses celebrated, or assist at 
some, for the faithful departed. Cause 
all those that you desire after death to 



1 54 Month of the Dead, 

be offered for you during lifetime; so 
much the more since Saint Anselm 
teaches that a single Mass said or heard 
for the wants of your soul, whilst you 
are on earth, will be more profitable 
than a thousand after death. Priests 
would do well in procuring the benefit 
of a privileged altar, and to associate 
themselves in tlie work for deceased 
priests directed by the Jesuits at 
Angers. 

Prayer. 

I adore Thee, O Jesus, my Saviour! 
really present in the Adorable Sacra- 
ment; I adore Thee, spotless Lamb, 
holy Victim Who takest away the sins 
of the world. However guilty the souls 
in Purgatory appear in Tliy eyes. 
Thou wilt be appeased, God of mercy, 
and wilt pardon them at the sight of 
the precious Blood shed by Thy divine 
Son for their purification. However 
rigorous has been the account they 
were obliged to render at the moment 
of death, I am confident, O my God! 
that I offer Thee a Victim fully pro- 
portioned to their debt. 

Ejaculation: Eternal Father! I offer 



Divine Blood is necessary. 1 5 5 

Thee the precious Blood of Jesus, in 
satisfaction for my sins, and for the 
wants of holy Church. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to all 
the faithful every time they shall say this ejacu- 
lation with at least contrite heart and devotion. 



156 Month of the Dead. 



TWENTY-FOURTH DA K 

OFFICE OF ANGEL. 

Journeying to Calvary in the Footsteps of our 
Saviour. 

"Gall ye that pass by the way, attend, and 
see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." 
— Lafu, i. 12. 

At the time of the Crusades, all 
Europe seemed moved to visit Jerusa- 
lem. Everybody longed to pass 
through this distant region, sanctified 
by the holy mysteries; even the fiery 
Robert, Duke of Normand}^, made this 
pilgrimage barefooted, carrying w^allet 
and staff, followed by his vassals. 

The Popes were dismayed at this 
enthusiasm, and to restrain the women, 
children, and aged, whilst exciting the 
ardor of emperors, kings, knights, and 
all who were capable of carrying arms, 
had recourse to an admirable expedi- 
ent. They permitted representations 
of the holy places to be made, and 
granted to the faithful visiting these 



J onrneying io Calvary. 157 

symbolical tokens, with the spirit of 
faith and in memory of the mysteries 
of Jesus Christ, the same indulgences 
they would gain by going to the Holy 
Land, and visiting tiie sacred places in 
Jerusalem. 

Such is the origin of the Way of the 
Cross. From the beginning, Mary, the 
Motlier of our crucified Saviour, had 
given to Christians tlie example of this 
holy exercise, often travelling over the 
way followed by her Son in His jour- 
ney to Calvary. The indulgences are 
numerous and applicable to the souls 
in Purgatory. Who does not love to 
tread in spirit the footprints of our 
Saviour wending His way to Calvary 
to redeem us by His death on the 
cross ? What sorrowful heart will not 
hasten to seek consolation, and near 
Jesus suffering, pray for a father or 
mother in the other world, for all who 
are no more, but with whom the invis- 
ible bond of charity is never broken ? 
The dead invite us to it, certain that 
the painful journey of our Saviour will 
remind us of the still greater sufferings 
they undergo in Purgatory. They urge 
us to enter on this sorrowful road, 



1 5 8 Month of the Dead, 

knowing that numerous indulgences 
applicable to the faithful departed are 
attached lo it. 



Participation in the Merits of the Agony of 
our Lord. 

Mother Philiberte Emanuel of Mon- 
toin, Superior of Annec}^ whose mem- 
ory is venerated and whose holy life 
has been a subject of edification for all 
the members of the Visitation Order, 
died Feb. 5, 1683, while Mother Greffier 
was Superior, and was recommended to 
the prayers of Sister Margaret Mary. 
After some time, the latter told her 
Superior it had been revealed to her 
that this soul had endeared herself to 
our Lord by her love and fidelity in 
His service ; that she would be amply 
recompensed in heaven after the com- 
pletion of her purification in Purga- 
tory. In reality He allowed Margaret 
to see her in this place, receiving great 
relief from the suffrages and good 
works offered daily for her throughout 
the Visitation Institute. During the 
hour spent before the Blessed Sacra- 
ment on Holy Thursday night, when 



Journeying to Calvary, 159 

Sister Margaret was renewing her 
prayers for this holy Superior, she ap- 
peared to her as being placed within 
the chalice which contained the sacred 
Host, receiving a share in the merits of 
Christ's agony in the Garden of Olives. 
On Easter Sunday she beheld her as 
in the commencement of felicity, hop- 
ing very soon to enjoy the vision of 
God. Some days after, she again saw 
her sweetly losing herself in glory, and 
melodiously singing the favorite canti- 
cle of the servants of God : Love tri- 
ttmphs, love rejoices, love delights in God. 
Thus this fervent Superior, animated 
by the purest spirit of her institute, 
who died leaving a reputation of 
sanctity, did not enter into the enjoy- 
ment of glory till Ma)^ i, according to 
the revelation made to Sister Margaret 
Mary ; so eighty-six days were required 
for her purification. Such a long 
Purgatory for so fervent a soul is a 
lesson for all slothful, indolent persons, 
who always believe it possible to do 
too much in the service of God, cuul 
applaud themselves for the most trifling 
penitential practice. 



i6o Month of the Dead, 



Practice. 

Often make the Way of the Cross, 
and in applying the numerous indul- 
gences to tlie souls in Purgatory, re- 
serve one for yourself. This practice 
procures each time the same indul- 
gences as one gains b}^ visiting in per- 
son the sacred places in Jerusalem. 
The conditions are: i. To be in a state 
of grace though Confession and Com- 
munion are not prescribed; 2. To med- 
itate briefly on the Passion of our 
Lord; 3. To go from one station to 
another, so far as the number of per- 
sons engaged in the devotion, and the 
confined space where the stations are 
erected, will admit; 4. To go through 
the stations not only in the same day, 
but without remarkable interruption. 
The recitation of vocal prayer is 
nothing more than a pious and praise- 
worthy custom. 

Prayer, 

O Jesus! my amiable Saviour, behold 
me humbly prostrate at Thy feet, im- 
ploring thy mercy for myself and the 



Journeying to Calvary. i6i 

souls of the faithful departed. Deign 
to apply to us the merits of Thy holy 
Passion upon which I meditate. Never- 
theless, I will'ngly deprive myself, in 
behalf of these suffering souls, of 
numerous indulgences in v^hich I can 
participate by performing this holy ex- 
ercise, reserving only a Plenary for 
myself who have great need of expia- 
tion. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
time the Stabat Mater is said with devotion in 
honor of the Mother of Sorrows. 



1 62 Month of the Dead. 



TWENTY-FIFTH DA PI 

OFFICE OF EXPIATOR. 

Expiation. 

*' But he himself shall be saved: yet so as by 
fire." — I Cor. iii. 15. 

^^ Let us aid the souls in Purgatory/' 
says Saint Chrysostom; "aid them by 
all that we suffer; for God is careful to 
apply to the dead the merits of the 
living." 

Suffering is the great satisfaction 
God demands of their love indebted 
to His justice; therefore suffer for 
them that the}^ may suffer less. 

There are here below two kinds of 
suffering, one voluntary, the other 
forced. Now, both kinds of suffering, 
supported in union with our Lord for 
the relief of the souls plunged in the 
expiatory flames, are very efficacious in 
procuring aid and even entire deliver- 
ance for them. 

Oh ! if we had a lively faith, what 



Expiation. 163 

mortifications would we not make in 
behalf of the souls who suffer in sucli a 
terrible manner! Fasts, hair-cloth, 
discipline, and other austerities would 
be our ordinary exercise. But at least 
can we not sometimes deprive ourselves 
of some delicate morsel, abstain from 
something gratifying to our senses, as 
inhaling the perfume of a flower, listen- 
ing to melodious music, saying a use- 
less or dangerous word, going with 
frivolous companions ? Would we not 
even sacrifice an allowable pleasure, a 
lawful but dangerous affection, a profit- 
less reading made through pure curi- 
osity, a culpable habit, an object of 
luxury and pure vanity ? " Choose the 
best victim," says Father Felix; "choose 
above all what is dearest to your heart, 
put it on that altar near the Lamb im- 
molated for the salvation of all; offer 
even your very self for those you most 
love, and then the price of the personal 
sacrifice will become the ri.nsoni of 
fraternal suffering." 

Mortifications, either forced or inde- 
pendent of our wills, which can be ren- 
dered meritorious by our acceptation 
and resignation, form the tissue of our 



164 Month of the Dead. 

lives. They come from the mind, mor- 
titied by its own ignorance in a 
thousand circumstances; from the 
heart, meeting with frequent decep- 
tion, ingratitude, selfishness, and even 
treachery, in place of the charity, grati- 
tude, and devotedness it has the right 
to expect; from the body, subject to all 
kinds of tribulations, sorrows, infirmi- 
ties, and sicknesses; from the weather, 
almost always contrary to one's wishes; 
from fortune, which baffles all our 
plans, sufferings, and fatigues, ruining 
in the twinkling of an eye every design, 
and destroying by a single contrariety, 
. a single caprice, the work of many 
years; from creatures in general, and in 
particular from the person who mis- 
represents our most innocent inten- 
tions, our most sincere undertakings, 
our most lawful steps; who praises a 
little only to criticise the more, and ap- 
proves in our presence onh^ to blame 
elsewhere. 

All this well supported for tlie souls 
in Purgatory is of great use to tliem. 



Expiation. 165 



Humiliation rendered Meritorious. 

A person highly esteemed in the 
world being in Purgatory for as many 
days as she had spent years on earth, 
received aid from the prayers of the 
Venerable Sister Margaret Mary. Our 
Lord revealed to this religious that 
among all the good works performed 
by this soul, He took special notice of 
certain humiliations she had received 
and suffered with a Christian spirit 
uncomplainingly, and even without 
speaking of them, and that, as a re- 
ward, her judgment had been mild and 
favorable. This fact and all those con- 
cerning Margaret Mar}^ are related ac- 
cording to the words of Mother Su- 
perior Greffier, so prudently distrustful 
of the extraordinary favors bestowed 
on this humble religious, and who only 
commenced to credit them after many 
proofs. 

Practice. 

Make an act of mortification of the 
body or heart to-day, or accept one you 
chance to meet with contrary to your 
desire. 



1 66 Month of the Dead. 



Prayer, 

Amiable Redeemer, permit not that 
the sufferings of Thy Passion be useless 
for the salvation of our souls. Have pity 
on me ; let one drop of Thy precious 
blood fall on my heart, that, softening 
its criminal hardness, it may link it 
hencefortli to Thy love. Have pity also 
on the poor souls who groan in the 
flames of expiation; grant them, in 
fine, the ineffable favor of seeing and 
loving Thee in heaven. Amen. 

Ejaculation: May the most just, most 
high, and most amiable will of God be 
done in all things, be praised and 
magnified forever. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day. A Plenary Indulgence once a year to all 
who shall have said it daily, and also, at the hour 
of death, to those who, having said it often dur- 
ing life and being properly disposed, shall 
accept death with resignation. 



The Ransom. 167 



TWENTY-SIXTH DAY, 

OFFICE OF REDEEMER. 

The Ransom. 

" Restrain not grace from the dead." — Ecclus. 
vii. 37. 

" If," as Saint Chrysostom says/^ alms- 
giving is a ladder to heaven, a piscina 
for sin, a certain refuge for both the 
giver and receiver; if," still following 
the words of the same Saint, " it is not 
merely tears but offerings and alms that 
are necessary to aid the dead;" if, ac- 
cording to celestial language, alms 
effaces sin as water extinguishes fire, not 
only mortal sin in itself, but the temj^^o- 
ral punishment which remains due to it, 
— how can we hesitate to redeem, as far 
as is in our power, these poor captives 
of divine Justice, by passing their rani- 
som through the hands of earth's poor 
ones who are the privileged friends of 
God? 

I distinguish here two sorts of alms, 
obligatory and spontaneous. 



l68 Month of the Dead, 

Obligator}^, necessary, indispensable, 
sacred alms is that imposed on heirs by 
the will of the dying, whether it is 
manifested to them verbally or by legal 
notice. Freely to dispense one's self 
from carrying out this wish is a great 
crime. 

Spontaneous, free, voluntary alms is 
that of which we intend chiefly to speak. 
Here is the praise bestowed on it by 
Saint Clirysostom: " Almsgiving," says 
he, ^* is a friend of God; she is always 
found near Him, obtains favors agree- 
able to Him, breaks the chains of sin, 
dissipates darkness, stifles the flames 
of passion, and opens the gates of 
heaven. Tliose who have charge of her 
respect her as a queen; they ask not 
who she is or whom she seeks: all go to 
meet and receive her with joy. She is 
pure; she has golden wings and gar- 
ments of marvellous beauty; iier coun- 
tenance is full of sweetness; the swift- 
ness of her wings carries her in a 
moment to the throne of God." 

Elsewhere he adds that alms made 
to the poor, for the benefit of the dead, 
is as if made to themselves. A man 
lamented having lost his only heir. The 



The Ransoj/i, i6g 

holy Doctor wrote to him in these 
terms: "Why tliese tears, why these 
cries ? Because he lived not to be your 
heir ? But has he not become by death 
the heir of Jesus Christ? VVithout 
doubt you acknowledge this; still you 
say, ' To whom then can I leave my 
rich garments, my superb residences, 
my estates?' To whom ? To himself; 
yes, to himself; and much more advan- 
tageously than if he lived. What can 
prevent you ? Absolutely nothing; for, 
if the generality of barbarous nations 
are accustomed to burn with their dead 
all that belonged to them during life, 
can you not with perfect equity deliver 
all the goods you had destined for this 
only heir, not to the flames to be re- 
duced to ashes, but to the poor of Jesus 
Christ to clothe and nourish them by 
abundant alms? If this heir died with 
some blemish, he will be purified; if, on 
the contrary, he has been found fault- 
less at the moment of death, liis glory 
will be increased. What still remains 
to you ? The desire to see him ? Very 
well; live holily, as he did, and you 
will be reunited in heaven." 



1 70 Mo}itJi of the Dead. 



Historical Facts. 

Tobias, who practised great charity 
towards the dead, expressly recom- 
mended his son to follow his example. 
*'My son," said he, ^'piit your bread 
and wine not uselessly on the tomb of 
the impious, but on the tomb of the 
just who shall have the happiness of 
profiting by it." It was hewdio said to 
give alms to the souls in Purgatory, ac- 
cording to the rule he had traced for 
the poor. " My son. if you have much, 
give much; if you have little, give little, 
but always with a good heart." 

The illustrious and glorious chief of 
the Machabees passed through the 
midst of the crowded ranks of victorious 
soldiers, and taking the hand of each 
one, asked alms for their companions in 
arms who had died in the combat. 

Saint Paulinus, Advocate, Consul, 
Bishop, who lived on the most intimate 
relations with Saints Martin, Ambrose, 
Jerome, Augustine, and with the most 
illustrious and holiest pei'sons, twelve 
centuries after his death merited praise 
from the reformers themselves for his 
piety towards God and charity to tlie 



The Ransom, 1 7 1 

poor, making every day numerous alms 
in their favor, and seizing witli eager- 
ness all opportunities of spreading 
and communicating this pure and ar- 
dent zeal. He congratulated Pamma- 
chius, as did Saint Jerome, who said:^ 
"Oilier husbands strew violets and 
roses on the graves of their wives; but 
our friend Pammachius bedews the hal- 
lowed dust of Paulina with the precious 
balm of almsgiving." 

The same Saint Paulinus notices with 
praise what was done by a young Roman 
lord named Alethius. After the death 
of his wife, Rufine, he assembled tlie 
poor in Saint Peter's Church to distri- 
bute food and alms for the relief of 
the soul of his dear one, who was the 
daughter of the famous Saint Paula. 

Practice, 

Make good use of your fortune dur 
ing life. Be not blind enough to de- 
pend on heirs, believing that, having 
forgotten yourself while on earth, they 
will remember you when you have de- 
parted and give alms in your name. 
Now tliat you are able, do what lies in 



I ^2 Month of the Dead. 

your power. Such alms will be surer, 
more meritorious and useful for your 
salvation. 

Those who shall feed three poor persons, to 
recall and honor Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a 
special manner, can gain: 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines. 

A Plenary Indulgence, if on the same day, 
being truly penitent, after Confession and Com- 
munion, they shall pray for the intention of the 
Sovereign Pontiff. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to all 
the members of the family, or servants of those 
who do this charitable work, if they contribute 
to this work of mercy either by lending their 
own services or by their mere presence. 



Prayer of the Church. 

Lord, listen favorably to our humble 
prayers.. We beseech Thee to conduct 
to the abode of glor\^ and peace, and to 
a place among the number of Th}^ 
Saints, the soul of Thy servant who 
has departed from this world. 

Ejaculation: 

O sweetest Heart of Jesus ! I implore 
That I may ever love Thee more and more. 



The Ransom. 173 

The members of the Archconfraternity of the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus may gain many Indul- 
gences by reciting this prayer every day, after 
an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Creed ; among 
others, a Plenary Indulgence on the first Friday 
or first Sunday of the month, and another day 
at will during the month, also on the Feast of 
the Sacred Heart, and an Indulgence of Sixty 
Days for each good work. 



1 74 Month of the Dead. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH DA Y. 

OFFICE OF THE MERCIFUL. 

Good Works. 

"Come ye blessed of My Father, possess you 
the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
tion of the vvorl(j ; for I was hungry, and yon 
gave Me to eat : I was thirsty, and you gave Me 
to drink : I was a stranger, and you took Me 
in : naked, and you covered Me : sick, and 
you visited Me : I was in prison, and you came 
to Me." — Matthew xxv. 34-36. 

All good works may aid and deliver 
the souls in Purgatory^ provided they 
are performed with the dispositions re- 
quired, which are the state of grace, 
union with the merits of Jesus Clirist, 
and the intention of disposing of them 
in their favor. This is the opinion of 
Saint Athanasius. " The souls of dead 
sinners," said he, ''are consoled by the 
good works of the pious living." 
Therefore, for our departed brothers, 
make an alms of your good work ; for 
them, take care of the sick poor, watch 



Good Works. 175 

at the bedside of the dying, protect or- 
phans, console widows, dry the tears 
of all wlio weep. 

A piece of money given, a visit 
made, an affectionate word addressed 
to an old person lying on a bed of 
suffering, to a mother burdened with 
a large family, and to unfortunate ones 
wiio keep out of sight : any one of 
these is a good work. Press in a 
brotherly manner the hand of the work- 
ingman who suffers all the privations 
of his wife and children, who finds it 
hard to procure them an humble home, 
coarse garments, and a little bread. 
Patronize young apprentices; turn 
tliem aside from the road of igno- 
rance, from dangerous and disgraceful 
entertainments, from reunions which 
corrupt the heart. Try to regulate 
and bless union among the poor, whom 
a false step has induced to live in a dis- 
honorable way. 

Exercise merc}^ by acquitting debts, 
or remitting them to persons in need, 
so as to prevent their ruin, or enable 
them to continue trade. Pardon your 
enemies; try to reconcile those who 
have been at variance; condescend to 



1 76 Month of the Dead, 

persons who suffer interior pain, to 
those tormented by scruples or great 
and strong temptations ; aid and raise 
them when they fall. 

One of the most powerful aids and 
one of the best works that can be prac- 
tised in behalf of the suffering souls 
is to procure missions for their inten- 
tion. 

Confession, Communion, fasts, ab- 
stinences, resignation in trials, and con- 
formity to the will of God, may also be 
classed with your good works. In 
short, such are the principal deeds that 
can benefit both your own soul and 
those detained in Purgatory. 

The Bed of Sharp and Fiery Points. 

^^ I saw in a dream," says the Vener- 
able Sister Margaret Mary, '' one of our 
sisters who had died some time before. 
She told me that she suffered much in 
Purgatory, but that her greatest pain 
was caused by seeing one of her near 
relations precipitated into hell. At 
these words I awoke and felt my body 
so exhausted that I found difficulty in 
moving. As we ought not to place 



Good Woi'ks. 177 

faith in dreams, I did not reflect greatly 
on this one ; but the religious, not- 
withstanding my resolve, compelled me 
to do so, for she gave me no peace from 
that moment, and incessantly cried to 
me : ' Pray to God for me; offer your 
sufferings united to those of Jesus 
Christ to alleviate mine, and give me 
all that you do till the first Friday of 
May, then offer a Communion for me/ 
This I did with the permission of my 
Superior ; nevertheless the pain im- 
parted to me by this suffering soul 
became so great, that it would have 
overwhelmed me were it not for oc- 
casional relief and repose. Obedience 
made me retire to my bed ; but I was 
no sooner there than it seemed she was 
near me and would say, ' Behold your- 
self in bed, at ease ; cast one glance 
upon my couch, where I suffer intoler- 
ably.' I still see that bed, the very rec- 
ollection of which makes me shudder. 
Both sides were of sharp and fiery 
points which pierced the flesh. She 
then told me that this was on account 
of her indolence and negligence in the 
observance of the rules. ' The}^ rend 
my heart,' added she, * and cause my 



I ; 8 Month of the Dead, 

most cruel suffering ; for the thoughts 
of murmuring and disapprobation I 
entertained against my superiors my 
tongue is devoured by vermin, and 
they tear it continually for my unchar- 
itable words and breaches of silence. 
Ah! how I would wisii that all souls 
consecrated to God could see me so 
horribly tormented! If I could show 
them what is prepared for those Vvho 
live negligently in their calling, they 
would tread with new ardor in their 
rules, and would guard against falling 
intQ those faults which make me suffer 
so much.* At this sight I melted into 
tears. 

'' However, the poor soul continued : 
* Alas! a day of exactitude to the silence 
of the community would heal my 
thirsty mouth ; another passed in the 
practice of holy charity would cure my 
tongue ; a third spent without a mur- 
mur or particle of disapprobation 
against the Superior would soothe my 
broken heart. But no one thinks of 
aiding me.' After receiving the .Com- 
munion she had requested, she told me 
that her terrible sufferings were greatly 
diminished, but that her Purgatory 



Good Works, 179 

would last still longer, and now her 
punishment would be that of those who 
live with lukewarmness in the service 
of God. Meanwhile I found myself 
exempt from the pains which she had 
told me would continue till she was re- 
iieved/* 

Practice. 

Make one of the acts mentioned in 
this day's reading, or pray for the dy- 
ing. 

Prayer. 

Holy souls who are detained in Pur- 
gatory, I will not forget that by my 
good works I can aid you in your 
sufferings. I offer from this moment 
all the meritorious deeds that I will 
present to my Saviour ; too happy if I 
can, by renouncing the fleeting and 
fallacious joys of this life, prove my 
love to Jesus Christ, hasten your de- 
liverance, and avoid the torments that 
you endure. For the same intention, I 
offer Thee, Lord, the Indulgences of 
the following prayer : 

Most merciful Jesus, Lover of souls! 
I pray Thee, by the agony of Thy Im- 



1 80 Mon til of the Dead, 

maculate Motlier, wasli in Thy Blood 
the sinners of tlie whole world, who 
are now in their ag'ony and are to die 
this day. Amen. 

Heart of Jesus, once in agony, pity 
the dying. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
time, and a Plenary Indulgence once a month, to 
all those who on any day after Confession and 
Communion shall visit a church or public ora« 
tory and pray there for the intention of the 
Pope, provided it has been recited three times 
a day for a month, at different hours. 



The Treasury of Indulgences, i8i 



TWENTY-EIGHTH DA V. 
OFFICE OF TREASURER. 

The Treasury of Indu'gences. 

** And I will give to thee the keys of the king- 
dom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt 
bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : 
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it 
shall be loosed also in heaven." — Matthew xvi.ig. 

The Church Militant possesses a 
treasury composed of the superabun- 
dant satisfactions of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the 
Saints. 

Only the living can draw from it; 
but each person is permitted to dispose 
of much of the spiritual riches gathered 
there under the name of Indulgences in 
behalf of their departed brothers. For, 
through mercy aud condescension to 
our weakness and good will, God 
deigns to accept little tilings, a short 
prayer, an easy practice, enriched by 
His grace, to acquit the enormous 
debt of expiation contracted by sin, and 



1 82 . Month of the Dead. 

as a ransom for long captivity in Pur- 
gatory. According to weighty theolo- 
gians, the Indulgence called Plenary, 
that is to say, entire, corresponds to 
the time that the soul gaining it would 
otherwise have to spend in Purgatory. 
A Partial Indulgence 'is limited to the 
time mentioned. Nevertheless, it may 
happen that a Partial Indulgence, for 
instance of one hundred days, applied 
to a soul having only this or even less 
time to pass in Purgatory may be a 
Plenary Indulgence relatively to it, 
that is to say, total deliverance from 
Purgatory. 

To gain an Indulgence, it is necessary: 
I. To have at least a general intention 
of gaining it; 2. The soul must be free 
from mortal sin, and sincerely sorry for 
those formerly committed; 3. To ac- 
complish devoutly and exactly all that 
is prescribed by the Pope who grants 
the Indulgence; 4. To pronounce the 
words and not merely read tiiem with 
the eyes. 

The foregoing conditions suffice or- 
dinarily to gain a Partial Indulgence; 
but a Plenary Indulgence exacts more: 
I. To be free from affection to sin, even 



The Treasury of Indiilgeitces, 183 

venial. 2. Confession made on the day 
or vigil of the feast. Persons who are 
in the habit of weekly Confession, or 
live in countries where there are few 
confessors, are dispensed from confess- 
ing each time they wish to gain a Plen- 
ary Indulgence: a Confession made 
within eight days before the feast will 
suffice to gain all the Plenary Indul- 
gences possible within the eight follow- 
ing ones, even when the confessor has 
not judged proper to give absolution, 
for want of sufficient matter. 3. Com- 
munion is generally required, except 
for the Way of the Cross and for the 
recitation of six Our Fathers^ Hail 
Marys^ and Glory be to the Fathers for the 
blue scapular; they can be said on the 
eve of the appointed day. 4. To pray 
for the intention of the Pope who has 
granted the Indulgence, during the 
space of time required to say five Our 
Fathers and five Hail Marys; but the 
prayers are not determined. Notice 
that to apply Indulgences to the dead, 
we are obliged to destine, at least in 
thought, the person or persons in 
whose favor we wish to gain them. 
Nevertheless, it is probable that an In- 



1 84 Month of the Dead. 

dulgence gained for the souls in Pur- 
gatory in general would be useful to 
them. 



The Religious and Indulgences. 

A good religious on the point of 
death preserved a calm and serenity 
whicli were not at all disturbed by the 
discourses of his Superiors on the 
severity of the judgments of God. The 
Father Abbot sought at least to inspire 
him with some fear of Purgatory. Tlie 
dying man replied: '^I know that my 
life iias not been faultless; but what 
reassures me to-day is that during my 
long career I have always striven to 
gain Indulgences; thus have I the firm 
belief that I will go straight to Para- 
dise." 

Practice, 

Foigetfulness is the chief cause of 
the few Indulgences we gain, In the 
second part of this book may be found 
Calendars reminding us of Indulgences 
that can be gained throughout the year. 



The Treasury of Indulgences. 185 



Prayer, 

O Father! O Son! O Holy Ghost! 

O most holy Trinity! O Jesus! O 
Mary! 

Blessed Angels, and all ye Saints of 
heaven! obtain for me tliese graces 
which I ask through the most precious 
Blood of Jesus Christ: 

1. To do always the will of God. 

2. To be always united with God. 

3. To think only of God. 

4. To love only God. 

5. To do everything for God. 

6. To seek only the glory of God. 

7. To become a saint solely for God. 

8. To know well my nothingness. 

9. To know always more and more 
tiie will of God. 

10. (Here ask for some particular* 
favor, for instance the deliverance of a 
soul from Purgatory.) 

Mary most holy! offer to the eternal 
Father the most precious Blood of 
Jesus Christ for my soul, for the holy 
souls in Purgatory, for the wants of 
holy Church, for the conversion of sin- 
ners, and for the whole world. 



1 86 Month of the Dead. 

Then say the Glory be to the Father three 
times, in honor of the most precious 
Blood of Jesus Christ: the Hail Alary 
once, to Mary, Motlier of Sorrows; and 
once the jRequiem ceternam^ for the souls 
in Purgatory. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days, once 
a day, and a Plenary Indulgence, on one of the 
last three days of the month, to those who, hav- 
ing recited these invocations and prayers, after 
Confession and Communion shall visit some 
church or public oratory and pray there for the 
intention of the Pope. 



The Heroic Vow, 187 



TWENTY-NINTH DA K 

OFFICE OF HERO. 

The Heroic Vow. 

Ill favor of tlie souls in Purgatory, 
zeal, devotedness, charity, carried even 
to heroism, are agreeable to God and 
have tlie approbation of the Church. 
We will give the proof by translating 
the decree of the Sacred Congregation 
of Indulgences, promulgated after an 
audience with the Holy Father, Nov. 
20, 1854: '' As it is a holy and whole- 
some thought to pray for the dead, 
that they may be loosed from sins, the 
apostolic solicitude of the Roman Pon- 
tiffs has never failed to excite the faith- 
ful of the Ciiurch Militant in drawing 
from the treasures of the same Church 
Indulgences without number, especially 
applicable to the souls detained in Pur- 
gatory, by the recitation of certain 
prayers and by certain pious works, in 
order that they may be more promptly 
e livered from their expiatory flames 



1 88 Month of the Dead. 

and take their flight to join the inhabi- 
tants of heaven. 

*' To procure still greater relief for 
these souls, during the Pontificate of 
' Bendict XTIT. a pious devotion, which is 
called a'^Vow or Oblation, was insti- 
tuted, or at least propagated, in the 
Catholic world, by Father Gaspard 
Oliden, of tlie Congregation of the 
Theatines. It consists in this, that the 
Christians who embrace it make a 
voluntary offering, for the faitliful de- 
parted, of all works of satisfaction 
they do in life, as well as of all those 
which shall be offered for them after 
death. Tlie above-mentioned Pontiff, 
Benedict XIII., has granted to all those 
who make this oblation particular In- 
dulgences, which, at the request of the 
General of the Theatines, Avere con- 
firmed Dec. 12, 1788, by Pope Pius 
VI.; and in an audience Sept. 30, 1852, 
the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX., at the 
earnest entreaty of some ecclesiastics, 
not only confirmed them anew, but 
made the following declaration: 

I. The Indult of a Privileged Altar, person- 
ally, every day in the year, to all priests who 
shall have made this offering. 



1 89 

2. All Christians who shall have made the 
oblation may ^ain a Plenary Indulgence, ap- 
plicable only to the departed, whenever ihey^go 
to holy Communion, and every Monday all who 
hear Mass in aid of the souls in Purgatory may 
gain the same, provided that, in both cases, they 
visit a church or public oratory and pray there 
for some time for the intention of His Holiness. 

3. All Indulgences granted, or to be granted, 
which are gained by the laithful who have 
made this offering, may be applied to the holy 
souls in Purgatory. 

For the greater relief of the souls plunged in 
the expiatorv flames, this indult is extended to 
the Christians of the whole world who have 
made the Heroic Act. 

Lastly, the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX., hav- 
ing in view the young who have not yet made 
their first Communion, as well as the sick, those 
who are afflicted with chronic disorders, the 
aged, farm-laborers, prisoners, and others who 
are debarred from Communion or are unable to 
hear Mass on Mondays, vouchsafed, by another 
decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indul- 
gences, Nov. 20.1854, to declare that, for all the 
faithful who cannot hear Mass on Monday, the 
Mass heard on Sunday should be available for 
gaining the Indulgence mentioned in No. 3; 
and that in favor of those who have not yet 
made their first Communion, or who are hin- 
dered from receiving holy Communion, he has 
left it to the will of their respective Ordinaries 
to authorize confessors to commute the works 
here enjoined. 

And note, lastly, that, although this act of 



190 Month of the Dead. 

charity is called a vow in some printed sheets, 
in which also is given a formula for making the 
offering, no inference is to be drawn therefrom 
that this offering binds under sin; neither is it 
necessary to make use of the said formula; 
since, in order to share in the said Indulgences, 
no more is required than a heart felt act of the 
will. 

Notwithstanding all things, however con- 
trary, to be always of value, without any re- 
newal of the brief. 

Given at Rome in the Office of the Sacred 
Congregation of Indulgences. 

** E. Card. Asquini, Prefect. 
(l.s.) " A. Colombo, Secretary." 

Example of the Heroic Vow. 

Without recalling Saint Francis Bor- 
gia, who practised this vow, read the 
Chronicles of Saint Dominic and you 
will find that a father of that Order of- 
fered to God all his good works for a 
person who was tempted to despair, 
and who died a few hours afterwards. 
He lost nothing while giving all his 
goods, because not many days had 
elapsed before; the deceased appeared 
to him clothed in very rich garments, 
and spoke to him in these terms: "My 
Father, your charitable offering is 
precious enough for both of us; I am 



The Heroic Vow. 191 

gratefully obliged to you; it is a usury 
that is not criminal." 

Davine did as much for his mother 
Petronilla, and Saint Gertrude for one 
of her religious whom she saw in Pur- 
gatory, which succeeded so well that 
she merited to be honored by a visit 
from our Lord, Who said to her: ^^ You 
have pleased Me so much by this ac- 
tion that now I will carry you in My 
bosom as a mother carries lier youngest 
child. You shall yet be uncovered as a 
glass of water if I do not cover you with 
My garments; and to recompense your 
charity, I desire hereafter to work con- 
jointl}/ with your heart." 

Father Rossignoli relates that Saint 
Gertrude, on the point of death, grieved 
at having done nothing for herself and 
having entirely applied lier merits to 
the souls in Purgatory. Jesus appeared 
to her and said: ''Gertrude, be at 
rest; your charity towards the souls in 
Purgatory has been so agreeable to Me, 
that after death you will be exempt 
from Purgatory, and all the happy souls 
your prayers have delivered will ac- 
company you to Paradise." 



192 Month of the Dead. 



Prayer. 

My God, without imposing on my- 
self any obligation under pain of sin, 
and as far as I lawfully can, with all 
my heart I make the promise and 
spontaneous vow of having the will to 
deliver from Purgatory all the souls 
that you wish to liberate. For this in- 
tention I place in the hands of Mary, 
that she may present them, united to 
the merits of her Son and to her own 
satisfaction, all the meritorious works 
performed by me during my sojourn on 
earth, and all the suffrages that will 
be made for me after death. Amen. 

Praise be to Jesus Christ, forever. 
Amen. 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days, each time, to all 
those who, when they meet one another, shall 
say the preceding formula, and a Plenary In- 
dulgence at the hour of death, provided that 
they shall have had, during life, the pious prac- 
tice of saluting as above directed, or of fre- 
quently invoking, the most holy names of Jesus 
and Mary, at least with the heart. 



The Deliverance, 193 



THIR TIE TH DA Y. 

OFFICE OF SAVIOUR. 

The Deliverance. 

** Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me, be- 
cause I am fallen: I shall arise, when I sit in 
darkness, the Lord is my light. . . . He will 
bring me forth into the light, I shall behold His 
justice." — Mich. vii. 8, 9. 

Debtors ourselves towards divine 
Justice, and insolvent debtors, God will 
only show mercy to us in proportion to 
the amount of mercy we show towards 
others. Consequently we should in- 
tercede for them if we desire them to 
intercede for us one day. It is hardly 
necessar}^ to add that gratitude is not 
banisiied from heaven, but, on the con- 
trary, increased in that liome of divine 
love; the souls whose happiness we shall 
liasten by our prayers will interest 
themselves in ours by their powerful 
mediation. Represent to yourself 
only one of these forsaken souls who, 
at the height of suffering and weari- 



194 Month of tlic Dead, 

ness, suddenly hears the angels ex- 
claim: ''Come, holy soul, the end of 
your exile has arrived; ascend to 
heaven. You would still owe to divine 
Justice a month, a year of suffering, but 
the sacrifices offered for you, the alms, 
Indulgences, stations, penances, the 
Masses heard, the prayers of your pious 
wife, of your children, have paid the 
debt. Come to heaven." 

At this announcement, what will be 
the cry of that soul, if not one of grati- 
tude 1 "Ah ! be you blessed of the 
Lord, you wlio have been merciful to 
His servant !'* Oh ! how deeply en- 
graven in his thoughts are the cher- 
ished names of his holy intercessors ! 
How he burns with desire to repay 
their services ! And united in the holy 
city to all the celestial court, with what 
zeal and success he will pray for the 
one who has delivered him, for the one 
who, after Jesus, is his saviour ! 

Christina the Admirable visits Purgatory, 
Hell, and Heaven. 

To the first evidence of a man re- 
stored to life, says Cardinal Bellarmine, 



The Deliverance, 195 

we will join tliat of an illustrious virgin, 
Christina, surnamed the Admirable, 
whose life has been written by Thomas 
of Cantimpre, of the Order of Saint 
Dominic, her contemporary and a very 
worthy author. The pious and learned 
Cardinal Jacques de Vitry bestows 
much praise on holy women in the pre- 
face to the life of Saint Mary d'Og- 
nies; but Saint Christina, whose prin- 
cipal actions he briefly relates, receives 
the largest share. 

Listen to her tell her own history: 
" As soon as my soul was separated 
from my body, it was conducted by 
angels to an obscure place occupied by 
many souls. The torments they suf- 
fered seemed tome so excessive, that it 
is impossible to express their rigor. I 
was greatly grieved at seeing many of 
my acquaintances there, and asked what 
place it was, supposing it to be hell; but 
those who accompanied me replied that 
this was only Purgatory, where sinners 
were punished, who had died contrite 
for their sins but without having made 
a suitable satisfaction to God, 

*' From there they conducted me to 
hell to look upon the torments of the 



196 Month of the Dead, 

damned, and liere too I recognized 
some. Then I was transported to the 
throne of God in heaven. Our divine 
Saviour regarded me with a favorable 
eye, and the tiionght of dwelling there 
eternally filled me with joy. But as He 
saw what was passing in m}^ heart, He 
said to me: * Assure yourself, My dear 
child, tliat you will one day be with Me. 
However, I will give you the choice 
of two things, either to be with Me 
for evermore, or to return to earth and 
undergo great torments, but without 
dying ; in order to deliver from the 
flames of Purgatory all those souls who 
have excited your compassion to such 
an extent, and that the example of a 
life of sufferings may lead sinners to 
enter into their duty and expiate their 
crimes. After this, you will return here 
full of merit.* Tiie inclination I had to 
avail myself of so advantageous an offer 
made me unhesitatingly reply that I 
wished to return to earth. Behold how 
I died and came back to life with the 
sole design of employing myself for 
the conversion of sinners. I beseech 
you, therefore, not to be astonished at 
the thinors vou will henceforth see in 



The Deliverance, 197 

me, because they will be so extraordi- 
nary that nothing like them shall ever 
be seen again." 

All this is from tlie Saint. Let us 
hear now what the historian said, and 
the various selections I have made from 
chapters of her life, adds Cardinal 
Bellarmine. 

She commenced to do the things for 
which she had been sent by God. Siie 
threw herself into fiery furnaces and 
suffered there sucli terrible pains that, 
not being able to endure them, she ut- 
tered cries of anguish. When she came 
forth no signs of burning were ap- 
parent. The winter that the Meuse 
was frozen she often plunged into it, 
and once reminded thei*e for six entire 
days. Sometimes when praying in the 
water she allowed lierself to be carried 
away by the current and conveyed to a 
mill, the wheel of which being in mo- 
tion caught her, without, however, 
bruising or dislocating any of her bones. 
On another occasion, being pursued by 
dogs who bit and tore her, she ran 
among thorns till she was covered 
with blood, notwithstanding which 
neither wound nor scar was visible. 



198 Month of the Dead. 

The author, who was suffragan Bishop 
of the archdiocese of Cambry, relates 
this, and we have every reason to credit 
it, because we have besides the testi- 
mony of another eminent author, 
Jacques de Vitry, Bishop and Cardinal, 
who said that this happened not only 
in his. time, but even in his own prov- 
ince, and what this admirable saint en- 
dured was not hidden. She wras often 
seen in the midst of flames which did 
not consume her, and sometimes cov- 
ered with sores that disappeared in a 
very few moments. 

In fine, this wonder continued for 
forty-two years after her restoration to 
life; and as a proof that what she did 
was by virtue of power from on high, 
the signal conversions made by lier dur- 
ing life and the evident miracles slie 
wrought after death show clearly it 
was the work of God. Thus was He 
pleased to close the mouths of those 
libertines who professed to believe 
nothing, and who had the temerity to 
say in raillery, "Who is this that 
has returned from the other world ? 
Who has ever beheld the sufferings of 
hell or Purgatory ? " Behold two faith- 



The Deliverance, 199 

ful witnesses who assure us that they 
liave been seen, and that they are great 
and numeroas. Wliat follows now, ex- 
cept to avow that the incredulous are 
inexcusable, and that those who believe 
without wishing to do penance are still 
more to be condemned ? 



Practice. 

Make tlie monthly retreat; that is to 
say, spend, at the close of each month, 
one day in recollection, so as to ex- 
amine how you liave spent the past 
month, and to take new resolutions and 
measures for the coming one. Foresee 
what more you can do in behalf of the 
souls in Purgatory. 



Prayer, 

Lord Jesus, I resolve to be of the 
number of fervent Christians, and as a 
proof of my love generously to apply 
myself to Thy service and to aid the 
souls suffering in the purifying flames 
of Purgatory for not having loved 
Thee sufficiently, and above all for not 



200 Month of the Dead. 

preserving themselves pure in Thine 
eyes. Bless my resolutions; make me 
ful]\r nnderstand that the fidelity we 
show in corresponding to Thy orraces 
is always the measure in which Thou 
grantest them, that so I may be faith- 
ful to all those unceasingly showered 
on me, and draw new ones upon my- 
self and the holy souls I propose to re- 
lieve at any price. 

Ejaculation: Sweet Heart of Mary, 
be my salvation ! 

An Indulsfence of Three Hundred Days for 
each recitation of this short prayer, and a Plen- 
ary Induli2:ence once a month, to all those who, 
being truly penitent, after Confession and Com- 
munion, shall visit a church and pray there for 
the intention of the Pope. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



When a person makes the Month of 
the Dead in a month consisting of 
thirty-one days, or if one of the preced- 
ing cliapters is not adapted to his need 
or position, let him select a subject 
from the Supplement. 

I. 
OFFICE OF COMMUNICANT. 

Communion. 

*' Put Me as a seal upon thy heart, . . . for 
love is strong as death." — Carit. viii. 6. 

When our flesh is nourished with the 
Flesh of a God Who has become our 
divine Brother, when His soul envel- 
ops our soul, when His Heart beats 
on our iieart, when His Blood circu- 
lates through our veins, when His 
Divinity unites itself entirely to our 



202 Month of the Dead, 

humanity, is it not the most favo:able 
moment to obtain pardon for these 
souls, captives of His love and prison- 
ers of His justice in Purgator}^ ? Oh! 
in that moment envied by angels, after 
the silent annihilations of adoration, 
when it is easy for us to converse with 
God without words, but in the swift 
language of heaven, in the language of 
a heart ready as thought, and to recall 
His own words recorded in the Gospel: 
'' Father, I will that where I am, they 
also whom Thou hast given Me may be 
with Me: that they may see My glory. 
. . . Just Father, the world hath not 
known Thee; but I have known Thee: 
and these have known that Thou hast 
sent Me." 

Want of Union. 

Once our Lord showed the Venerable 
Margaret Mary a number of souls in 
Purgatory, who were deprived of the 
aid of the holy Virgin and saints, and 
visits from their angels, as a punish- 
ment for not having been united with 
their superiors during life, and having 
had some misunderstandings with 
them. Many of them were destined to 



Comimmion. 203 

remain long in these horrible flames; 
others even entered without any greater 
mark of predestination than that they 
did not hate God; some who were in 
religion, and liad shown little union and 
charity for tlieir sisters, had been de- 
prived of their suffrages and received 
no other help. 

Practice before and after Coinmtmion 
offered for the Souls in Purgatory, 

Tlie ordinar}^ acts can be used, mere- 
ly adding the two following ones: 

BEFORE COMMUNION. 

Act of Offering. 

Permit me, O my God, to offer for 
the souls in Purgatory (or for the soul 
of N.) the Communion I liave the happi- 
ness to make. These souls, although 
just, cannot yet enjoy the blessed Com- 
munion of heaven, and they no longer 
have that of earth which formerly they 
so happily participated in. But since 
Thou hast established such a union be- 
tween the members of Thy Church 
that the spiritual goods of one can be 



204 Month of the Dead. 

communicated to another, accept my in- 
tention of sharing the fruits of my Com- 
munion with these souls; apply to them, 
Lord, all that is possible, accoi*ding to 
the designs of Thy merciful Providence. 
May I in some way be tlie channel 
through which the Blood of Thy divine 
Son will flow upon these suffering 
souls; may this precious Blood purify 
their souls of every blemish, extinguish 
the avenging fire which burns them, 
quench the ardent thirst which con- 
sumes them, and be for them the 
pledge of that full and entire deliv- 
erance for which they sigh without 
ceasing. 

AFTER COMMUNION. 

My Saviour Jesus, Redeemer of the 
world and incomparable Friend of 
souls, I have read that when Lazarus 
was dead, his sisters sent for Thee and 
said to Thee: ^' Lord, he whom Thou 
lovest is sick." I have no need of 
sending for Thee, O Jesus! for Thou 
art within me at this moment. Thou 
art \ in my heart, and it can speak to 
Thine, heart to heart; not only Thy 



Comiminion, 205 

divine ear, but Thy human ear is there 
within my heart! Lord, since Thou art 
so near Thy poor creature, ah! I pros- 
trate myself before Thee with the most 
lively faith; I embrace with love Thy 
sacred feet and say to Tliee, not merely 
in behalf of one brother, as did 
Lazarus' sisters, but in favor of an in- 
numerable number of brothers and sis- 
ters: '' Lord, those whom Thou hast 
loved so much, and who alwa3's love 
Thee, suffer terrible pains in Purga- 
tory; be touched at their misfortune, 
for Thou alone canst aid them." 

My Saviour, my own wants are 
great, but I forget them at this 
moment to think of those souls, and 
recommend them to Thy charity. 
Without doubt, they suffer justly, and 
what they endure is but the punish- 
ment merited by their faults; but, O 
most sweet Redeemer! canst Thou not 
show mercy without imposing on the 
rights of Thy Justice? Is not the 
treasure of Thy satisfactions infinite ? 
Thou hast already paid so much for 
these souls, henceforth insolvent! Ah! 
give still what remains to their debt 
and they will be delivered. 



2o6 Month of the Dead, 

Jesus! the rich and abundant price 
of the salvation of the world — Thy 
wounds, blood, heart, merits — all is 
within me at present. I possess this 
divine treasure; I hold it, and it seems 
to be mine, since Thou hast given it to 
me in holy Communion. Permit me, 
therefore, O my Saviour, to use it 
without measure; suffer me to draw^ 
from Thy wounds, blood, and heart 
what will pay for these poor souls! 
O Heart! O Blood! O Wounds of my 
divine Redeemer! be the complete ran- 
som of their sins; be the link between 
mercy and justice, that so delivered 
from the prison of fire, they go as soon 
as possible to chant in heaven the 
eternal canticle of the elect: " Glory, 
honor, benediction, and power to the 
Lamb, Who was slain for our salvation 
and Who has given us heaven for ever 
and ever. Amen.'* 

Indulgenced Prayer. 

Look down upon me, good and gen- 
tle Jesus, while before Th}^ face I hum- 
bly kneel, and with burning soul pray 
and beseech Thee to fix deep in my 



Confraternities. 207 

heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, 
and charity, true contrition for my 
sins, and a firm purpose of amendment; 
the while I contemplate with great love 
and tender pity Thy five wounds, pon- 
dering over them within me, whilst I 
call to mind the w^ords which David, 
Thy prophet, said of Thee, my Jesus: 
'^They pierced My hands and My feet; 
they numbered all My bones." 

A Plenary Indulgence to the faithful who, be- 
ing truly penitent, after Confession and Com- 
munion, shall recite this prayer with devotion 
before an image or picture of our crucified Re- 
deemer and pray for the intention of His Holi- 
ness. 



II. 

OFFICE OF ASSOCIATEo 

Confraternities. 

" Accordinq: to the multitude of Thy mercies, 
blot out my iniquities." — Ps. 1. 3. 

A confraternity has the advantage of 
uniting the prayers and good works of 
those who form a part of it. There- 
fore it is profitable to join such associa- 



2o8 Month of the Dead. 

tions and to observe the rules well. 
But, relatively to the souls in Purga- 
tory, that which ought to make you 
seek membersliip is the numerous in- 
dulgences applicable to the dead which 
are generally attached to cor>fraterni- 
ties. 

Without doubt, prudence counsels us 
to do a little well rather than embrace 
much and neglect all the practices nec- 
essary to make us partakers of the 
fruits of the association; but it is far 
better to undertake much and be faith- 
ful, as far as possible, to all that is re- 
quired. This is the advice of Saint 
Francis de Sales^ who reassures persons 
having the false fear of sinning if they 
should fail to observe certain practices 
which are rather recommended than 
commanded by the rules of different 
confraternities. *'For," says he, "if 
some conventual rules in themselves 
oblige neither under pain of mortal nor 
venials in, how much less the statutes of 
confraternities! What is recommended 
to an associate is purely a counsel and 
not a precept. Those who follow it may 
gain indulgences which are not granted 
to others, but no sin is committed by 



Confraternities. 209 

omitting tlie practices. There is mucli 
to gain and notiiing to lose." Saint 
Ligouri is of the same opinion; he 
speaks highly of wearing different 
scapulars. 

Therefore it would be useful to enter 
at least one or even several confraterni- 
ties, including one devoted to the relief 
of the souls in Purgatory. 

Awake ! 

Vernon (Eure) is perhaps the only city 
in France where tlie ancient custom of 
which w^e are about to speak continues 
in practice. At each death, an individ- 
ual clothed in a mourning garment, 
ornamented witli bones, goes through 
the city carrying two bells of a sharp 
and penetrating sound; then at each 
cross-way he tolls them three times, and 
cries, with plaintive voice: "We rec- 
ommend to your prayers N.; he is a 
member of the confraternity of Saint 
James, of Saint Sebastian, etc., etc. He 
is dead; the funeral will take place at — 
o'clock." At daybreak on the first Sun- 
day of eacli month, the same individual 
again wanders through tlie city sound- 
ing the bell continually; knocking three 



2 1 o Month of the Dead. 

times at the door of the Members of 
Charity, and stopping at tlie corners of 
streets, he exclaims : '^ Good people, 
or good souls, w.ho sleep, awake! pray 
for the dead!" etc. 

Practice. 

Become a member of a confraternity 
enriched with indulgences. Those who 
wear the blue scapular of the Immacu- 
late Conception have the great advan- 
tage of gaining the indulgences of the 
Seven Basilicas at Rome, the Portiun- 
cuia of Jerusalem, and of Saint James 
of Compustello, every time they recite 
six times the Our Father^ Hail Mary, 
and Glory be to the Father, for the 
triumph of the Church, the extirpation 
of heresy, and peace and concord among 
Christian princes. Confession, Com- 
munion, or any other prayers besides 
those mentioned are^not required. 

Prayer. 

Lamb of God! august Victim im- 
molated to satisfy the justice of Thy 
Father! Lamb without spot! true 
Passover of Ciiristian people! listen lo 
the sorrowful accents of those suffering 



Confraternities, 2 1 1 

souls for whom I pray; deliver them 
from the evils they endure without 
complcunt while blessing the hand that 
strikes them. It is Thou Who takest 
away the sins of the world and the 
sliglitest stain of sin; blot out theirs, O 
divine Lamb! and grant them the 
promised repose, peace, and glory. 

Ejaculation enriched with an Indul- 
gence. 

All the faithful who wear the red scapular of 
the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ may gain 
an Indulgence of Two Hundred Days by kissing 
it and saying : We therefore pray Thee, help 
Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with 
Thy Precious Biood. 



THE EASIEST INDULGENCES. 



FIRST PART. 



CHAPTER I. 

Utility of Indulgences. 

Indulgences serve to facilitate the 
expiation of sin. In sin we distinguish 
the offence done to God, and the chas- 
tisement whicli must be the pun- 
ishment. It is true, after absolution 
the offence is pardoned; but ordinarily, 
on account of our im[:)erfect disposi- 
tions, the eternal punisiiment is only 
changed into a temporal one, which we 
must undergo in this life by perform- 
ing rigorous penance; or, after death, 
by suffering in Purgatory. 

In reality, seldom has the avowed 
penitent sufficient and necessary con- 
trition to exempt him from all tempo- 
ral punishment, and the penances im- 
posed by the confessor are nearly al- 
ways too insufficient to liquidate en- 
tirely this debt of expiation. 



Conditions for Gaining htdulgence. 213 

Now, indulgences shorten this time 
of expiation, and even free ns from it 
completely, according as the indulgence 
gained is Partial, that is to say, remit- 
ting a portion of the punishment due 
to sin; or Plenary, remitting entirely 
the debt of suffering contracted to- 
wards divine Justice. An indulgence, 
in general, is then a precious and easy- 
remission of the temporal punishment 
due to sin. The treasury of indul- 
gences, confided to the Catholic Church, 
is composed of the superabundant satis- 
factions of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Immaculate Virgin, and the pious he- 
roes of Christianity. 

CHAPTER II. 

Conditions for gaining an Indul- 
gence. 

It is necessary: i. To have at least a 
general intention of gaining it. 2. To 
be free from mortal sin and sincerely 
repentant for those committed hereto- 
fore. 3. To accomplish devoutly and 
exactly all that is prescribed by the 
Pope who grants the indulgence. 4. 



2 1 4 Month of the Dead. 

To pronounce the words, and not mere- 
ly read them with tlieeyes. 5. To make 
the appointed prayers during th^e time 
prescribed for the acquisition of the 
indulgence. This is required of the 
faithful on the day fixed in their diocese; 
of religious, on tiie day indicated in 
their calendar; of members of confra- 
ternities, once, following either calen- 
dar. 

All indulgences contained in this 
book are applicable to the dead, with 
the exception of those preceded by a '''. 

The faitiiful can then, at will, gain 
them for themselves or for the souls in 
Purgatory. 

To apply an indulgence applicable to 
the dead, it is necessary to designate 
the person at least by thought. 

The accomplishment of the preced- 
ing conditions suffices ordinarily for a 
Partial Indulgence. 

We say ordinarily, because it hap- 
pens sometimes that a Partial Indul- 
gence, particularly one of Seven Years 
and Seven Quarantines, requires the 
same conditions as a Plenary; we shall 
mention this exception in the proper 
place. 



Conditions for Plenary Indulgenee. 2 1 5 



CHAPTER III. 

Special CoxNtditions for a Plenary 
Indulgence. 

Besides the conditions contained in 
chapter second, a Plenary Indulgence 
requires a complete detachment from 
sin, even venial; Confession, Commu- 
nion, Prayers, and sometimes a Visit. 

1. The Confession ought to be made 
on the day or vigil of the feast. Never- 
theless, those vvno are accustomed to 
confess at least once a week, and those 
who cannot confess frequently, because 
of lack of confessors, can gain all tiie 
Plenary Indulgences which are granted 
during tlie following eight days. 

In certain dioceses Confession made 
twice a month suffices, by dispensation. 

2. Communion ordinarily necessary, 
say for the Way of the Cross and the 
six Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory 
be to the Fathers of the Blue Scapular, 
should be made on the day or vigil of 
the feast. According to a decree of 
Oct. 6, 1870, Confession alone, or both 
Confession and Communion, may be 
made on the day immediately preceding 



2i6 Month of the Dead. 

that on which the indulgence is granted 
(whether it is the feast or not). Tlie 
time commencing with a natural day 
and not from the first Vespers. 

By one Communion, several Plenary 
Indulgences requiring it can be gained. 
A virtual intention at least to gain 
the indulgence is necessary for the 
Communion; it is preferable to have it 
also for the Confession, although no 
decision shows that this last is indis- 
pensable. 

3. Prayers. They must be vocal, ac- 
cording to the intention of the Pope who 
has granted the indulgence, and take as 
much time as is occupied by the recita- 
tion of five Our Fathers and ^yq Hail 
MarySy and this as many times as one 
wishes to gain a Plenary Indulgence. 

All vocal prayers can be said for this 
end. The object of these prayers is 
the prosperity of the Church, peace 
and concord among Chi'istian princes, 
the extirpation of schism and heresy^ 
and the preservation and special inten- 
tion of the Sovereign Pontiff. 

4. The Visit may precede the Con- 
fession and Communion, and even the 
other works. This visit in a church 
or public oratory shall be indicated by 



Con ilt ions for Plenary Indulgence. 217 

the letter V. The confessor may com- 
mute the Communion for invalids who 
do not live in a community. 

Several years ago, the Sacred Con- 
greo^ation of Indulgences decided that 
it is necessary to enter and leave the 
church as often as one desires to gain 
indulgences requiring a visit. 

The indulgences are gained on the day 
to v^hich the feast is lawfully transferred 
in each diocese, order, or confraternity. 

By feast must be understood the 
solemnit}" and exterior pomp, because 
the transfer of indulgences does not 
take place when the Office and Mass 
alone, without the solemnit}^, are trans- 
ferred. In the category of transferred 
indulgences must be placed those which 
are attached to churches or public 
oratories, or indicated by the consent 
of the ordinary for the pious supplica- 
tions, novenas, septenaries, triduums 
made before the feast, after it, or dur- 
ing the octave. These indulgences are 
transferred to the day when feasts of 
this nature are celebrated with solem- 
nity and exterior pomp. The removal 
is legitimate even when made but for 
a time and on account of certain cir- 
cumstances. 



SECOND PART. 

THE DAY OF INDULGENCES. 



On Rising. 
I 



^ In the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

An InHulgence of Fifty Days every time that 
the faithful shall make the sign of the cross, in- 
voking at the same time the Blessed Trinity in 
the above-mentioned words; and an Indulgence 
of One Hundred Days when holy water is used. 

II. 

Jesus! Mary! 

An Indulgence of Twenty-five Days for de- 
voutly invoking these holy names. 

III. 

Angei of God, my guardian dear, 
To whom His love commits me here, 
Ever this day be at my side. 
To light and guard, to rule and guide. 

Amen. 

{^See Indulgences in Night Prayers?) 



The Day of Inditlgcnces, 219 

Ic will be useful to direct your inten- 
tion as follows: My God, I pray Thee 
apply to the soul of N. whom I be- 
lieve to be in Purgatory, all the indul- 
gences attached to the prayers and 
practices I shall make this day. 

Morning Prayers. 
I. 

Our Father; Hail Mary ; I believe in 
God. 

Ejaculation: O sweetest Heart of Je- 
sus! I implore 
That I may ever love Thee more and 
more. 

Recited daily by the members of the confra- 
ternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ihey will 
procure many indule^ences; among others, a 
Plenary Indulgence on the first Friday or first 
Sunday of the month, and another day at will 
during the month, as well as on the Feast of the 
Sacred Heart, and an Indulgence of Sixty Days 
for each pious work. 

IT. 

Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity. 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines every time that these acts are said 



220 Month of the Dead. 

with heartfelt devotion, and a Plenary Indul- 
gence once a month and at the hour of death. 
Any formula can be used, provided it expresses 
and explains the particular motive of each of 
the theological virtues. 

III. 

O Father! O Son! O Holy Ghost! 

O Most Holy Trinity! 6 Jesus! O 
Mary! 

Blessed angels, and all ye saints of 
heaven! obtain for me these graces 
which I ask through the most precious 
blood of Jesus Christ: 

1. To do always the will of God. 

2. To be always united with God. 

3. To think only of God. 

4. To love only God. 

5. To do everything for God. 

6. To seek only the glory of God. 

7. To become a saint solely for God. 

8. To know well mv nothingness. 

9. To know always more and more 
the will of God. 

10. {Here ask for some pcu'ticular grace ; 
for example^ to overcome yoicr predominant 
passional 

Mary most holy! offer to the eternal 
Father the most precious blood of Jesus 



TJie Day of Indidgenccs. 221 

Christ for my soul, for the holy souls 
in Purgatory, for tlie wants of holy 
Church, for the conversion of sinners, 
and for the whole world. 

Then say the Glory be to the Father 
three times, in honor of the most pre- 
cious blood of Jesus Christ, the Hail 
Mary oncQ,, to Mar}^, Mother of Sorrows, 
and once the Reqicieni mternam for the 
souls in Purgator3^ 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days once 
a day, and a Plenary Indulgence on one of the 
last three days of the month. (Visit.) 

IV. 

Hail, august Queen of peace! hail, 
holiest Mother of God! By the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, thy Son, the Prince of 
peace, grant that His anger may end, 
and that in peace He may reign over 
us. Remember, O most loving Virgin 
Mary! that no one ever sought thy 
mediation without obtaining relief. 
Animated with this confidence, I come 
to thee. Do not, O Mother of the Word I 
despise my words; but hear and grant 
my prayer, O clement, O sweet Virgin 
Mary! 



222 Month of the Dead, 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days each 
time; Plenary Indulgence once a month. (Visit ) 



The Angelas. 

Besides the Indulgence of One Hundred 
Days granted to all the faithful, those who 
possess an apostolic chaplet can gain another 
Indul;.',ence of One Hundred Days by say- 
ing this prayer on their knees at the sound of 
the bell. This prayer should be said standing 
on Saturday evening and on Sunday. From 
midday on Holy Saturday till the vigil of Trin- 
ity Sunday, instead of the above prayer, the 
A'egina Cceli should be said standing ; those, 
however, who do not know by heart this anthem 
may gain the same Indulgences by saying the 
Angelus, These are, besides the Indulgence of 
One Hundred Days every time, a Plenary Indul- 
gence once a month, and another each year. 

A/igeli/s^ 

V, The angel of the Lord declared 
unto Mary, and she conceived of the 
Holy Ghost. 

Hail Mary, etc. 

F. Beliold the liandmaid of the Lord; 
be it done unto me according to Thy 
word. 



The Day of Indulgences. 223 



Hail Mary, etc, 

V. And tlie Word was made flesh, 
and dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary, etc. 

V, Pray for us, holy Mother of God. 
R, That we may be made worthy of 
the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray. 

Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord! 
thy grace into our hearts, that we, unto 
whom the incarnation of Christ thy 
Son was made knowm by tlie message 
of an angel, may, by His passion and 
cross, be brought to the glory of the 
resurrection. Through the same Christ 
our Lord. 

R, Amen, 

Regina Cceli. 

Queen of heaven, rejoice. Alleluia. 
For He whom thou wast made worthy 
to bear. Alleluia. 

Hath risen as He said. Alleluia. 
Prav for us to our God. Alleluia, 



224 Month of the Dead. 

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin 
Mary. Alleluia. 

V. For the Lord hath risen indeed. 
Alleluia. 

Let 2is pray. 

God, who throucrh the resurrection 
of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, hast 
vouchsafed to make glad the whole 
world, grant us, we beseech Thee, that, 
through the intercession of the Virgin 
Mary, His Mother, we may attain the 
joys of eternal life. Through the same 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Meditation. 

A Plenary Indul.Q:ence once a month granted 
to all the faithful who shall make mental prayer 
devoutly for half an hour, or at least for a 
quarter of an hour, every day for a month. 

The Holy Mass. 

Preparation. 

Whoever carries about the person or has at 
home a rosary or chaplet, cross or crucifix, 
medal or statuette enriched by the Indulgences 
called Apostolic, gains an Indulgence of Fifty 
Days each time that he says some prayer pre- 
paratory to Mass or Communion, for the recita- 



The Day of Indulgences. 225 

tion of the Divine Office or the Little Office of 
the Blessed Virgin. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to those 
who, possessing a Chaplet of Saint Bridget, as- 
sist at Mass, and recite ihe Otcr Father diUd Hail 
Mary three times. 

During Mass. 

To hear Mass one can follow any method 
whatever, inserting in the places indicated the 
following prayers enriched with indulgences. 

At the Iiih'oit. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days, once 
a day, and a Plenary Indulgence on one of the 
three last days of the month, to all the faithful 
who have the habit of reciting wiih contrition 
and devotion, in memory of the Passion of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the following prayer, with 
five Our FatJiers, Hail Marys, and Glory be to the 
Fathers: 

O my Lord Jesus Christ ! Who, to 
redeem the world, didst vouchsafe to 
be born amongst men, to be circum- 
cised, to be rejected and persecuted by 
the Jews, to be betrayed by the traitor, 
Judas, with a kiss, ana as a lamb, gen- 
tle and innocent, to be bound with 
cords, and dragged in scorn before the 
tribunals of Annas, Caiphas, Pilate, and 
Herod; Who didst suffer Thvself to be 



226 Month of the Dead. 

accused by false witnesses, to be torn 
by the scourge and overwhelmed with 
opprobrium; to be spit upon, to be 
crowned with thorns, buffeted, struck 
with a reed, blindfolded, stripped of 
Thy garments, to be nailed to the cross 
and raised on it between two thieves, 
to be given gall and vinegar to drink, 
and to be pierced with a lance; do Thou, 
O Lord! by these Thy most sacred 
pains, which I, all unworthy, call to 
mind, and by Thy holy cross and death 
deliver me (and Thy servant N. in his 
agony ^) from the pains of hell, and 
vouchsafe to bring me whilher Thou 
didst bring the good thief who was 
crucified with Thee : Who, with the 
Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and 
reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen. 

From the Gloria to the Gospel. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days 
every time, and a Plenary Indulgence once 
a month, to all who recite the following offerings 
to the Eternal Father, with the intention of mak- 
ing thereby compensation for all the outrages 
which are done to the precious blood of Jesus: 

* If the prayer is said for a person in his last 
agony. 



The Day of Indulgences. 227 



SEVEN OFFERINGS. 

I. Eternal Father ! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 
Th}^ well-beloved Son, my Saviour and 
my God, for my dear mother, the holy 
Church, that she may enlarge her bor- 
ders and be magnified in all the nations 
of the eartli; for the safety and well- 
being of lier visible head, tlie Sovereign 
Roman Pontiff; for the cardinals, 
bishops, and pastors of souls, and for 
all the ministers of Thy sanctuary. 

Then say the Glory be to the Father^ 
and this ejaculation: Blessing and 
thanksgiving be to Jesus, Who with 
His blood hath saved us. 

II. Eternal Father! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 
Thy w^ell-beloved Son, my Saviour and 
my God, for peace and union among all 
Catholic kings and princes, for the 
humiliation of the enemies of our holy 
faith, and for the welfare of all Chris- 
tian people. 

Glory be to the Father ^diud Blessing and 
thanksgiving, etc. 

III. Eternal Father! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 



228 Month of the Dead. 

Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and 
my God, for the repentance of unbe- 
lievers, for the uprooting of heres3^ and 
for the conversion of sinners. 

Glo7^y be to the Fathe?'^ and Blessing 
and thanksgiving;^ etc. 

IV. Eternal Father ! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 
Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and 
my God, for all my kindred, friends, 
and enemies; for the poor, the sick, and 
wretched, and for all for whom Thou, 
my God, knowest that I ought to pray 
or wouldst have me pray. 

Glory be to the Father^ and Blessing 
and thanksgiving, etc. 

V. Eternal Father! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 
Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and 
my God, for all who, this day, are pass- 
ing to the other life; that Thou wouldst 
save them from the pains of hell, and 
admit tliem quickly to the possession 
of Thy glory. 

Glory be to the Father^ and Blessing and 
thanksgiving, etc. 

VI. Eternal Father! I offer Thee the 
merit of the precious blood of Jesus, 
Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and 



The Day of Indulgences. 229 

my God, for all those who love this 
great treasure, for those who join with 
me in adoring it and honoring it, and 
who strive to spread devotion to it. 

Glory be to the Father^ and Blessing and 
thanksgivings etc. 

VII. Eternal Father! I offer Thee 
the merit of the precious blood of 
Jesus, Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour 
and my God, for all my wants, spirit- 
ual and temporal, in aid of the holy 
souls in Purgatory, and chiefly for 
those who most loved this blood, the 
price of our redemption, and who w^ere 
most devout to the sorrow^s and pains 
of most holy Mary, our dear Mother. 

Glory be to the Father ^ and Blessing and 
thanksgiving, etc. 

Glory be to the blood of Jesus, now 
and forever, and throughout all ages. 
Amen. 

Gospel, 

The Sovereio^n Pontiff, Benedict XIV.. 
granted an Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to all the faithful every 
time that they shall be present with devotion at 
the explanation of the Gospel on Sundays and 
the greater festivals of the year; also to those who 
explain it. Pope Clement XII. had granted the 
same Indulgence to all the faithful every time 



230 Month of the Dead, 

that they shall teach or learn the catechism or 
Christian doctrine; to those who have the pious 
custom of teachings assiduously or learning the 
catechism or Christian doctrine he granted a 
Plenary Indulgence on Christmas Day, Easter 
' Sunday, and on the feasts of the holy Apostles 
Saints Peter and Paul. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to those 
who, having a Chaplet of Saint Bridget, assist 
with devotion at the sermon and recite the Our 
Fatho' and Hail Mary three times. 



Prayer, 

Look down, O Lord, from Thy 
sanctuary, and from heaven, Thy dwell- 
ing-place, and behold this holy Victim 
which our great High-priest, Thy holy 
Child, the Lord Jesus, offers up to Thee 
for the sins of His brethren; and let not 
Thy wrath be kindled because of the 
multitude of our transgressions. Be- 
hold, the voice of the blood of Jesus, 
our Brother, calls to Thee from the 
cross. Give ear, O Lord! Be appeased, 
O Lord! Hearken, and tarry not, for 
Thine own sake, O my God! because 
Thy name is called upon in behalf of 
this city and of Thy people; but deal 
with us according to Thy great mercy. 
Amen. 



The Day of Indulgences, 231 

A Plenary Indulgence on the first Thursday 
of the month if this prayer is recited before the 
Blessed Sacrament; an Indulgence of Seven 
Years and Seven Quarantines when recited 
kneeling in presence of the Blessed Sacrament 
another Thursday, after Confession and Com- 
munion; an Indulgence of One Hundred Days 
when recited with a contrite heart other days. 

At the Sane t us. 

Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of 
liosts: tiie earth is full of Tliy glory. 
Glory be to the Father, glory be to the 
Son, glory be to the Holy Ghost. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day, three times every Sunday, as well as on the 
Feast of the Most Holv Trinity, and during its 
octave. A Plenary Indulgence once a month. 
(Visit.) 

Before the Co?iseeratio7U 

Glory be to Jesus! 

Who in bitter pains 
Poured for me the life-blood 

From His sacred veins. 

Grace and life eternal 

In that blood I find; 
Blessed be His compassion, 

Infinitely kind! 



1 3 2 Month of the Dead. 

Blessed through endless ages 
Be the precious stream 

Which from endless torment 
Doth the world redeem. 



There the fainting spirit 

Drinks of life her fill; 
There, as in a fountain, 

Laves lierself at will. 

Oh, the blood of Christ ! 

It soothes the Father's ire. 
Opes the gate of heaven, 

Quells eternal fire. 

Abel's blood for vengeance 

Pleaded to the skies; 
But the blood of Jesus 

For our pardon cries. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day. 

At the Elevation, 

O Sacrament most holy! O Sacra- 
ment divine! 

All praise and all thanksgiving be every 
moment Thine. 



Tlie Day of Indulgences, 233 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once 
during each Mass, to all the faithful who, at the 
elevation of both species, shall say this ejacula- 
tion with at least contrite heart and devotion. 

At the elevation of the Chalice it is 
well to add the following ejaculation: 

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the 
precious blood of Jesus in satisfaction 
for my sins, and for the wants of holy 
Church. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each 
time that this prayer is recited. 

After the Elevation. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days once 
a day for the recitation of the following prayer. 
Read it at this favorable moment. 

Most precious Blood of life eternal, 
price and ransom of the Vv^orld, whose 
saving streams nourish and cleanse oui 
souls, ever pleading man's cause be- 
fore the throne of heavenly mercy! 
from the depths of my soul I adore 
Thee. Fain would I, were I able, make 
Thee some compensation for the out- 
rages and wrongs Thou dost ever suffer 
from men, Thy creatures, and, most of 
all, from those who, in their rashness. 



234 Month of the Dead. 

cease not to blaspheme Thee. Who 
will not bless this Blood of infinite 
value? who not burn for love of Jesus, 
Who shed it all for us? What were I 
but for this Blood which hath redeemed 
me ? Love, assuredly love, O bound- 
less love, which gave to us this saving 
balm beyond all price, welling from 
the fount of immeasurable love! give 
to all hearts, to all tongues, power to 
praise, hymn, and thank Thee, now 
and forever, and throughout all eter- 
nity! Amen» 

At the Pater Nostei\ 

Recite the Our Father^ etc., the 
prayer so fruitful in itself, being taught 
by our Lord. 

At the Agnus Dei. 

Soul of Christ, sanctify me. 
Body of Christ, save me. 
Blood of Christ, inebriate me. 
Water from the side of Christ, wash 
me. 

Passion of Christ, strengthen me. 
O good Jesus, hear me. 
Within Thy wounds hide me. 



The Day of Indulgences. 235 

Permit me not to be separated from 
Thee. 

From the malignant enemy defend 
me. 

In the hour of my death call me, 

And bid me come to Thee, 

That, with Thy saints, I may praise 
Tiiee, 

Forever and ever. Amen, 

By each recitation of this invocation made 
with contrition and devotion, the faithful may 
j^ain an Indulgence of Three Hundred Days, An 
Indulgence of Seven Years, once only, to priests 
who shall say it after Mass, and to the faithful 
after receiving holy Communion. If, during an 
entire month, at least once a day, this invocation 
has been made with contrite heart and devotion, 
a Plenary Indulgence may be gained on one day, 
at choice, in whatever month it may be. (Visit.) 

At the Communion. 

At every Mass the pious Christian 
should make a spiritual Communion, 
which consists in an ardent desire to 
receive our Lord, or a sacramental 
Communion. 

For both of these Communions, as 
well as for all visits to the Blessed 
Sacrament, one can make with fruit the 
acts indicated by each letter of the 



236 



Mont It of the Dead. 



Latin word Ardor^ which means ardor, 
fervor, piety. 



Before. 

A — Adoration. 

R — Repentance. 

D — Desire. 

O — Orison, act of 
prayer. 

R — Recollection 
(interior and 
exterior). 



After. 
Love. 
Gratitude. 
Petition. 
Offering. 

Resohition. 



After your Sacramental Communion, 
3^ou can prain the Indulgence for the 
prayer, Soid of Christ, etc., of which 
we have spoken, or a Plenary Indul- 
gence for the following 

Prayer, 

Look down upon me, good and gen- 
tle Jesus, while before Tliy face I hum- 
bh^ kneel, and with burning soul pray 
and beseech Thee to fix deep in my 
heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, 
and charity, true contrition for my 
sins, and a firm purpose of amend- 
ment; the while I contemplate with 
great love and tender pity Thy five 



The Day of Indulgences. 237 

wounds, pondering over them within 
me, whilst I call to mind the words 
which David, Thy prophet, said of 
Thee, my Jesus: '^ They pierced My 
iiands and My feet; they numbered all 
My bones." 

Pope Pius IX., in a decree of July 31, 1858, 
declared that a Plenary Indulgence will be 
gained by the faithful of both sexes who, being 
truly penitent and having confessed and com- 
municated, shall recite devoutly the prayer, 
Look down upon vie, etc., in any language 
whatever, provided that the version be faithful 
and made before an image or picture of our 
Crucified Redeemer. They must also spend 
some time in prayer for the intention of His 
Holiness, 



At the Benediction, 

Eternal Father ! we offer Thee the 
most precious blood of Jesus, shed for 
us with such great love and bitter pain 
from the wound in His right hand; and, 
through its merits and its might, we 
entreat Thy divine majesty to grant us 
Thy holy benediction, that, by its power, 
w^e may be defended against all our 
enemies and freed from every ill; whilst 
we say. 



238 



Month of the Dead. 



Benedictio Dei 
omnipotentis, Pa- 
tris et Filii et Spir- 
itus Sancti, de- 
scendat super nos, 
et maneat semper. 
Amen. 



May the blessing 
of God Almiglity, 
Father, and Son, 
and Holy Ghost, 
descend upon us, 
and remain forever. 
Amen. 



Our Father, Hail Mary, Gloiy be to the 
Father. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
time, and a Plenary Indulgence every month, 
to the faithful who recite the preceding offering 
to the Eternal Father to obtain His benediction, 
with the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be 
to the Father, to the Most Holy Trinity, in 
thanksgiving for blessings received. 

Vespers. 

I. 

See what we have said of prepara- 
tion before Office, page 224, article 
on Mass. Recite the prayer Apert, etc. 



II. 

At the end of Vespers is sometimes 
said Da paceuiy etc. 

Ant. Give peace, O Lord ! in our 



The Day of Indulgences. 2^g 

days; for ihere is none other that 
fighteth for us, but only Thou, our 
God. 

F, Peace be in Thv strength, O 
Lord ! 

J<!. And plenty in Thy strong places. 

Ze^ us J>raj', 

O God, from wliom come all hoh^ 
desires, all right counsels and just 
works! grant unto us, Thy servants, that 
peace which the world cannot give, 
that our hearts may be devoted to Thy 
service, and that, delivered from the 
terror of our enemies, we may pass 
our time in peace under Thy protec- 
tion. Through Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each 
time that the faithful recite this prayer with 
contrite heart and devotion. A Plenary In- 
dulgence to those who shall have said it daily 
for a month, in any month whatever. (Visit.) 

III. 

The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VI., granted an 
Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a day to 
all v^rho with contrition and devotion recite the 
Sa/ve Reoini, etc., with the versicles. Dignare 
me and B nelictus Dens, in the morning, and 



240 Month of the Dead. 

Sub tuum prcesidiuni, with thesame versicles, in 
the evening. 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines on all the Sundays of the year; a 
Plenary Indulgence twice a month, on any 
two Sundays and on all the feasts of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, as well as on the Feast of All 
Saints and at the hour of death. 

Salve Regina. 

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, 
our life, our sweetness, and our hope; 
to thee do we cry, poor banished sons 
of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, 
mourning and weeping in this valley 
of tears. Turn, then, most gracious 
Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward 
us, and, after this, our exile, show unto 
us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin 
Mary ! 

V, Make me worthy to praise thee, 
holy Virgin. 

R. Give me strength against thine 
enemies. 

V. Blessed be God in His saints. 

R. Amen. 

We f^y to thy patronage, O holy 
Mother of God ! despise not our peti- 
tions in our necessities, and deliver us 



The Day of Indulgences, 241 

from all dangers, O ever glorious and 
blessed Virgin ! 

V. Make me worthy, etc., as before. 

IV. 

After the Office, remission of all the faults 
and omissions committed .lirough human frailty, 
to those who recite the prayer, Sacro sanctce^ 
together with an Our Father and a Hail Mary^ 
on bended knees. 



Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. 

I. 

A Plenary Indulgence to all the faithful who 
accompany the procession of the Blessed Sac- 
rament formed by the associates of the con- 
fraternity of this name, on the third Sunday of 
each month, and on Holy Thursday. 

II. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days to 
those who recite the Pange Lingua, with the 
versicle and prayer. An Indulgence of One Hun- 
dred Days to those who say the Tanttt7?i Ergo 
only, with the versicles and prayer. All those 
who frequently, or at least ten times a month, 
shall say either the Pange Lingtia or the Tan- 
iiim Ergo, with the versicles and prayer, can 
gain a Plenary Indulgence once a year, another 
on the Feast of Corpus Christi or within the 
octave, and a third on Holy Thursday. (Visit.) 



242 Month of the Dead, 



III. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each 
time that the faithful recite ; 
O Sacrament most holy ! O Sacrament divine ! 
All praise and all thanksgiving be every mo- 
ment Thine ! 
at the sound of the bell which indicates that 
Benediction is being given in the church with 
the Most Blessed Sacrament, or when the sign 
is given for the hour by the bell of the church 
where there is exposition of the Most Blessed 
Sacrament, either when prayers are to be said 
during the Forty Hours' devotion, or for any 
other reason. 

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament. 

For a guide, see the article on Com- 
munion, page 235. 

I. 

A Plenary Indulgence to the faithful who, 
after Confession and Communion, visit the 
Blessed Sacrament exposed, three times during 
the weeks following Septuagesima, Sexacresima, 
or Quinquagesima Sundays, and for each of 
these three weeks before receiving the ashes, or 
only on the Thursday in Sexagesima week. 

II. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days every 
time that the faithful recite the following prayer 



The Day of Indulgences, 243 

before the Blessed Sacrament, or the prayer, 
Afost holy Virgin^ etc., before an image of the 
Blessed Virgin, provided it be with at least con- 
trite heart. A Plenary Indulgence once a 
month to those who recite one or the other of 
these prayers at least once a day. 

Prayer for the Visit to the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, 

Lord Jesus Christ, Who, through the 
love which Thou bearest to men, dost 
remain with them, day and night, in 
this Sacrament, full of mercy and of 
love, expecting, inviting, and receiving 
all who come to visit Thee ; I believe 
that Thou art present in the Sacrament 
of the Altar. From the abyss of my 
nothingness I adore Thee, and I tliank 
Thee for all the favors which Thou 
hast bestowed upon me, particularly 
for having given me Thyself in this 
Sacrament, for having given me for my 
advocate Thy most holy Mother, Mary, 
and for having called me to visit Thee 
in this church. 

I, this day, salute Thy most loving 
heart, and I wish to Falute it for three 
ends : first, in thanksgiving for this 
great gift ; secondly, in compensation 



244 Month of the Dead. 

for all tlie injuries Thou hast received 
from Thy enemies, in this Sacrament ; 
thirdly, I wisii, by tiiis visit, to adore 
Thee in all places in which Thou art 
least honored and most abandoned in 
the holy Sacrament. My Jesus, I love 
Thee with my whole heart. I am sorry 
for having liitherto offended Thy infi- 
nite goodness. I purpose, with tiie 
assistance of Thy grace, never more to 
offend Thee ; and, at this moment, 
miserable as I am, I consecrate my 
whole being to Thee. I give Thee my 
entire will, all my affections and desires, 
and all that I have. From this day for- 
ward, do what Thou wilt with me, and 
with whatever belongs to me. I ask 
and desire only Thy holy love, the gift 
of final perseverance, and the perfect 
accomplishment of Thy will. I recom- 
mend to Thee the souls in Purgatory, 
particularly those who were most de- 
voted to the Blessed Sacrament and to 
most holy Mary ; and I also recom- 
mend to Thee all poor sinners. Finally, 
my dear Saviour, I unite all my affec- 
tions with the affections of Thy most 
loving heart ; and, thus united, I offer 
them to Thy eternal Father, and I en- 



The Day of Indulgences, 245 

treat Him, in Thy name and for Tliy 
sake, to accept tliem, 

A Visit to our Blessed Mother. 

Most holy and immaculate Virgin ! 
O my Motlier ! thou who art the Mother 
of my Lord, the Queen of the world, 
the advocate, hope, and refuge of sin- 
ners ! I, the most wretched among 
them., now come to thee. I worship 
thee, great Queen, and give thee thanks 
for the many favors thou hast bestow^ed 
on me in the past ; most of all do I 
thank thee for having saved me from 
hell, which I had so often deserved. I 
love thee. Lady most worthy of all love, 
and, by the love which I bear thee, I 
promise ever in the future to serve thee, 
and to do what in me lies to win others 
to thy love. In thee I put all my trust, 
all my hope of salvation. Receive me 
as thy servant, and cover me with the 
mantle of thy protection, thou who art 
the Mother of mercy ! And since thou 
hast so much power with God, deliver 
me from all temptations, or at least ob- 
tain for me the grace ever to overcome 
them. From thee I ask a true love of 



246 Month of the Dead. 

Jesus Christ, and the grace of a happy 
deatli. O my Mother ! by tliy 1 "^ve for 
God I beseech thee to be at all times 
my helper, but above all at the last 
moment of my life. Leave me not until 
thou seest me safe in heaven, there for 
endless ages to bless thee and sing thy 
praises. Amen. 

Holy Viaticum carried to the Sick. 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to those who shall have a lighted 
taper or any other light, and shall pray for the 
sick person and for peace and union among 
Christian princes. 

An Indulgence of Five Years and Five Quar- 
antines to those who shall accompany it without 
a light. 

An Indulgence of Three Years and Three 
Quarantines to those who, being unable to go 
themselves, shall send some one in their stead 
to carry a light in attendance upon the Most 
Blessed Sacrament. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to those 
who cannot go themselves wiih the Blessed 
Sacrament, provided they shall say one Our 
Fathei' and one Hail Mary for the intention of 
the Sovereign Pontiff. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
time that any one shall devoutly accompany the 
Blessed Sacrament. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to the 



The Day of htdiilgences. 247 

possessors of a Chaplet of Saint Bridget who 
accompany the Holy Viaticum and recite three 
times the Our Father and Hail Mary, 

Way of the Cross. 

The Way of the Cross made by the faithful 
procures them each time the same indulgences 
that they would gain by visiting in person the 
sacred places in Jerusalem. The conditions 
are: i. To be in a state of grace, though Con- 
fession and Communion are not prescribed. 2. 
To meditate briefly on the Passion of our Lord. 
3. To go from one station to the other, so far 
as the number of persons engaged in the devo- 
tion, and the confined space where the stations 
are erected, will admit. 4. To go through all of 
them not only in the same day, but without 
remarkable interruption. No vocal prayer is 
obligatory, though praiseworthy. 

Chaplet. 

Pius IX. has granted an Indulgence of Ten 
Years and Ten Quarantines once a day to the 
faithful who devoutly recite in company with 
others, either at home or in church, in public or 
private oratories, a third part of the Rosary of 
Saint Dominic; and a Plenary Indulgence on 
the last Sunday in every month to all who are 
in the habit of saying with others, at least three 
times a week, the third part of the Rosary, 
without belonging to the confraternity of that 
name. (Visit.) 

Benedict XIII granted an Indulgence of One 



248 Month of the Dead. 

Hundred Days for every Our Father and every 
Hail Mary, and a Plenary Indulgence once a 
year, to those who recite the third part of the 
Rosary every day ; the same Indulgence of One 
Hundred Days had been granted for the Chaplet 
of Saint Bridget. Those who recite at least once 
a week the Chaplet of our Lord, or that of the 
Blessed Virgin, enriched with Apostolic Indul- 
gences, gain numerous Indulgences on the feasts 
indicated in the calendar, besides an Indulgence 
of One Hundred Days each time. (Take par- 
ticular notice that it is necessary to recite the 
whole Chaplet without remarkable interruption.) 

Ejaculatory Prayers. 

Jesus, my God, 1 love Thee above all 
things ! 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days each time that 
this ejaculation is said with contrite heart and 
devotion. 

May the Heart of Jesus iu the most 
Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, 
and loved with grateful affection, at 
every moment, in all the tabernacles 
of the world, even to the end of time. 
Amen. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day. 

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be 
lovid everywhere. 



The Day of Indulgences. 249 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days each 
time. 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, 
make my heart like unto Thine. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days once 
a day. 

O Mary, who didst come into this 
world free from stain! obtain of God 
for me that I may leave it without stain. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day. 

Blessed be the holy and immaculate 
conception of the most blessed Virgin 
Mary; — or. In thy conception, O Virgin 
Mary! thou wast immaculate. Pray for 
us to the Father Whose Son Jesus, con- 
ceived in thy womb by the Holy Ghost, 
thou didst bring forth. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
lime. 

Praise be to Jesus Christ. Forever. 
Amen. 

Pius IX. granted to those who salute one 
another thus an Indulgence of Fifty Days every 
time, and a Plenary Indulgence at the hour of 
death, if they formed this pious practice and in- 
voke the Holy Name of Jesus, at least with the 
heart. 



250 Month of the Dead. 

St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred 
Heart, pray for us. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day. 

Good Joseph, our guide, protect us 
and the holy Church. 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days to the associates 
of the Perpetual Cultus of Saint Joseph. 

In Danger and Temptation. 

Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days for 
each recitation of this short invocation, and a 
Plenary Indulgence once a month. (Visit.) 

My Queen! my Mother! remember I 
am tliine own. Keep me, guard me, as 
thy property and possession. 

An Indulgence of Forty Days every time 
that this ejaculation is said in temptation. 

May the most just, most liigh, and 
most amiable will of God be done in 
all tilings, be praised and magnified 
forever. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days once a 
day, a Plenary Indulgence once a year, to all 
who shall have said it daily, and a Plenary In- 
dulgence at the hour of death to those who, 



The Day of Indulgences. 251 

having said it often during life and being 
properly disposed, shall accept death with res- 
ignation. 

After a Sin. 

My Jesus, mercy. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days every 
time. 

My sweetest Jesus, be not my Judge, 
but my Saviour. 

An Indulgence of Fifty Days every time. 
Act of Reparation for Blasphemy. 

Blessed be God. 

Blessed be His holy name. 

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God 
and true man. 

Blessed be the name of Jesus. 

Blessed be Jesus in the most holy 
Sacrament of the Altar. 

Blessed be the great Mother of God, 
Mary most holy. 

Blessed be her holy and immaculate 
conception. 

Blessed be the name of Mary, virgin 
and mother. 

Blessed be God in His angels and in 
His saints. 



252 Month of the Dead. 

An Indulgence of One Year for every recita- 
tion of this prayer, and a Plenary Indulgence 
once a month. (Visit.) 



Night Prayers. 

I. 

Our Father^ etc., Hail Mary, etc., and 
the invocation, "Saint Francis Xavier, 
pray for us." 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to the 
members of the Association for the Propagation 
of the Faith each time that they make this 
prayer or give an alms, besides the weekly pen- 
ny, in behalf of this association. 

II. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days once 
a day, and a Plenary Indulgence on any one 
day in each month, to those who shall say the 
Hail Maiy seven times, and after each Hail 
Mary the stanza: 

Bid nie bear, O Mother blessed! 
On my heart the wounds impressed 
Suffered by the Crucified. 

III. 

Those who wear the scapular of the 
Immaculate Conception (blue scapular) 



The Day of Indulgences, 253 

have the immense advanta^^e, of which 
they can dispose in favor of the souls in 
Purgatory, of gaining the Indulgences 
of the Seven Basilicas at Rome, of 
the Portiuncula, or Sacred Pardon, of 
Jerusalem, and of Saint James of Com- 
postello, every time that, wherever it 
may be, they recite six times the Oiir 
Father^ Hail Mary, and Glory be to the 
Father, for the triumph of the Church, 
the extirpation of heresy, and the peace 
and concord of Christian princes. Con- 
fession, Communion, or any other pray- 
ers besides those mentioned above are 
not required. 

IV. 

Litany of the Blessed Virgin, 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days every 
time this is said. A Plenary Indulgence on the 
five feasts of obligation of the Blessed Virgin to 
those who shall say it daily. 

V. 

The Memorare. 

Remember, O most gracious Virgin 
Mary! that never was It known that 



254 Month of the Dead. 

any one who fled lo Thy pi'Otection, 
implored Thy help, and sought Tliy in- 
tercession was left unaided. Inspired 
with this confidence, I fly nnto thee. O 
Virgin of virgins, niy Motlier! to thee 
I come, before thee I stand, sinful and 
sorrowful. O Mother of the Word in- 
carnate! despise not my petitions, but, 
in thy mercy, hear ancl answer me. 
Amen. 

An Indu],c:ence of Three Hundred Days can be 
gained by all the faithful every time that they 
shall say this prayer. A Plenary Indulgence 
once a montli to those who say it daily during 
the month. (Visit.) 

VI. 

Angel of God, my guardian dear, 
To whom His love commits me here, 
Ever this day be at my side, 
To light and guard, to rule and guide. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to all 
the faiihful everv time that, with contrite heart 
and devotion, they shall sav this prayer. A 
Plenary Indulgence on the Feast of the Holy 
Guardian Angels (Oct. 2), V., and at the hour of 
death, to those who have recited it morning 
and evening throughout the year. A Plenary 
Indulgence once a month to all the faithful 
who shall have said it every day for a month. 
(Visit.) 



The Day of Indulgences. 255 



VII. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days can be 
gained every lime that the following prayer 
and versicle are said with at least contrite heart 
and devoiion. To those who shall say them at 
least three times a day for a month, at different 
hours of the day, a Plenary Indulgence once 
a month. (Visit.) 

Most merciful Jesus, lover of souls! 
I pray Thee, by the agony of Thy im- 
maculate Mother, wash in Thy blood 
the sinners of the whole world who are 
now in tlieir agony and are to die this 
day. Amen. 

Heart of Jesus, once in agony, pity 
the dying. 

VIII. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to all 
the faithful who, at the sound of the bell, at the 
first hour after nightfall, shall say devoutly on 
their knees the psalm, De profundis, with the 
Pequiem aternam at the end of it, or the Our 
Father^ the Hail Mary, and the Reqtaem (Zternam^ 
for the souls in Purgatory. 

A Plenary Indulgence once a year to those 
who shall have performed this pious exercise 
for a year. 



1 5 6 Mo7tth of the Dead, 



IX. 

Examen of Conscience. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days to 
those who make it, if they possess an Apostolic 
Chaplet, provided they add the Our Father and 
Hail Mary three times in honor of the Blessed 
Trinity, or five times in honor of the Five 
Wounds of our Lord ; an Indulgence of Twenty 
Days if they carry a Chaplet of Saint Bridget 
and add three times the Our Father and Hail 
Mary. 

An Indulgence of Twenty Years to any one 
who shall carry about him one of the Chaplets 
of our Lord, after he has made an examination 
of conscience, gone to Confession, received Com- 
munion, and prayed to God for the spread of the 
Catholic faith, for the extirpation of heresy, and 
for the triumph of holy Church. 

An Indulgence of Twenty Days to the same 
when they invoke the adorable name of Jesus, 
after examination of conscience, and say the Our 
Father and Hail Mary each three times for the 
welfare of holy Church. 

Bed-time. 

All the faithful who wear the red scapular of 
our Lord's Passion may gain* an Indulgence of 
Two Hundred Days by devoutly kissing the 
scapular and saying with contrition: 

We therefore pray Thee, help Thy 



The Day of Indulgences. 257 

servants whom Thou liast redeemed 
with Tliy precious blood. 

We know that those who wear this scapular 
enjoy a Plenary Indulgence on the day of re- 
ception, provided that being penitent, after Con- 
fession and Communion, they recite the Ottr 
Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father 
five times, while devoutly thinkingof the Passion 
of our Lord; also each Friday a Plenary Indul- 
gence to those who, after Confession and Com- 
munion, meditate for a time on the Passion of 
our Lord and pray for peace among Christian 
princes, the extirpation of heresy, and the tri- 
umph of the Church. This Indulgence is ex- 
tended to those who, legitimately hindered, 
transfer their Confession and Communion to 
the following Sunday. 

An Indulgence of Three Years and Three 
Quarantines to all who shall spend half an hour 
in meditation on the Passion, if not after Con- 
fession, at least with contrition. 

A Plenary Indulgence at the hour of death. 

Jesus, Maiy, and Joseph, I give you 
my heart and my souL 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me 
in my last agony. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I 
breathe forth rny soul in peace with you. 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred Days to 
those who make these three invocations. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days for the 
recitation of one of them. 



THIRD PART. 

THE INDULGENCED YEAR. 



CHAPTER I. 

Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences 

ATTACHED TO THE MOVABLE FeASTS. 

Septuagesiina Sunday. — The Roman 
Stations. An Indulgence of Thirty 
Years and Thirty Quarantines, as on 
Jan. I, § III. 

A Plenary Indulgence to the faithful 
who, having confessed and comnuini- 
cated, shall visit the Blessed Sacra- 
ment exposed in the week of Seplua- 
gesima, Sexagesima, or Quinqua- 
gesima, before receiving the ashes, 
whether it be in each of these weeks 
during three days, or only on Thurs- 
day in Sexagesima week. 

Sexagesima. — Stations, as on Jan. i. 

Quiiiguagcsinia. — Stations, as on Jan. 

I, § III. 

Lent. — The Roman Stations, which 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 259 

can be gained by tlie persons indicated 
on Jan. i, § III. 

An Indulgence of Fifteen Years and 
Fifteen Quarantines on Asli-VVednes- 
(lay and the fourth Sunday of Lent. 
An Indulgence of Twenty-five Years 
and Twenty-five Quarantines on Palm- 
Sunday. An Indulgence of Ten Years 
and Ten Quarantines every other Sun- 
day, and every other day in Lent. 

Spy- Wednesday, — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the associates of tlie Blue 
Scapular and the Confraternity of the 
Immaculate Conception. 

Holy Thursday, — An Indulgence of 
Two Hundred Days to those who ac- 
company the procession of the Blessed 
Sacrament; and a Plenary Indulgence 
to the members of the Confraternity 
of the Blessed Sacrament, V. 

Stations, — A Plenary Indulgence, as- 
suming Confession and Communion. 
See Jan. i, § III. 

Good Friday. — A Plenary Indidgence 
to the associates of the Blue Scapular 
and the Confraternity of the Immacu- 
late Conception. 

Stations. — An Indulgence of Thirty 
Years and Thirty Quarantines, as on 



26o Month of the Dead, 

Jan. I, § III. This Indulgence can be 
gained by the confraternities indicated 
on page 265. 

Holy Saturday. — Stations, as on Jan 
I. From this midday till the eve ot 
Trinity Sunday the Regina C^// should 
be said standing, in place of the An- 
gelus, 

Easter. — A Plenary Indulgence to 
the Confraternity of the Bona Mors; to 
the Confraternity of the Rosary, V.; to 
the associates of the Living Rosary, 
who recite their decade daily during 
the month, V.; to those who wear the 
blue scapular; to priests who explain 
the Gospel, and the faithful v^dio hear 
it explained; to those who are accus- 
tomed to assist at tlie explanation of the 
Christian doctrine or instruct others; 
to the possessors of a chaplet, cross, 
medal, etc., as on Jan. 6, § I. 

Stations, — A Plenary Indulgence for 
the confraternities and persons indi- 
cated on Jan. i, § III. 

The Three Rogation-days, — An Indul- 
gence of Thirty Years and Thirty 
Quarantines for the Roman Stations. 

A scension - Thursday \ — A Plenary In- 
dulgence for indulgenced objects, as 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 261 

on Jan. 6, § I; to tlie P.osaiy Confra- 
ternity, V.; to the Livinp^ Rosary, as on^ 
Jan. I, § I ; to the Bona Mors As- 
sociation, V. ; to the Congregations of 
the Blessed Virgin; to the Blue Scap- 
ular. 

Stations, — A Plenary Indulgence to 
the persons indicated on Jan. i, § III. 

Vigil of Pentecost, — Stations. An In- 
dulgence of Ten Years and Ten Quar- 
antines. See Jan. i, § III. 

Pentecost, — As on Easter, except for 
Christian doctrine. 

Stations. — Veni, Creator Spiritiis,, or 
Veni, Sancte Spiritus^ as for to-morrow. 

Monday. — An Indulgence of Thirty 
Years and Thirty Quarantines each 
day, till Saturda3^ inclusively, as on 
Jan. I, § III., for the Stations. An Indul- 
gence of Three Hundred Days for each 
recitation of the hymn, Veni,, Creator 
Spiritiis, or of the sequence, Veni, Sancte 
Spiritus. The other daysman Indulgence 
of One Hundred Days, and a Plenary 
Indulgence once a month; it is neces- 
sary to pray for the concord of Chris- 
tian princes, the extirpation of heresy, 
and the exaltation of the Church. To 
the associates who fulfil their decade of 



262 Monih of the Dead, 

the Living Rosary, an Indulgence of 
Seven Years and Seven Quarantines; 
to the Bhie Scapular, an Indulgence of 
Three Hundred Days. 

Saturday, — End of the octave. The 
Angel us is resumed this evening. 

Trinity Sunday. — K Plenary Indul- 
gence to the Blue Scapular; for chap- 
lets, crosses, medals, etc., as on Jan. 6, 
§ I. To-day and each day within the 
octave an Indulgence of One Hundred 
Days can be gained three times every 
day by reciting the Trisagion, Holy^ 
holy, holy, etc. 

Wednesday, — x\n Indulgence of Seven 
Years and Seven Quarantines, each day 
of the novena in preparation for the 
Feast of the Sacred Heart, to the associ- 
ates, if they pray according to the inten- 
tion of the Holy Father, and visit the 
church or public oratory where this 
feast is kept, or have this visit com- 
muted by one who has power to do so. 
An Indulgence of Two Hundred Days 
to the faithful who, having confessed, 
shall fast or perform some other good 
work on the vigil of Corpus Christi. 

Corpus Christi. — A Plenary Indulgence 
for chaplets, crosses, medals, as on Jan. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indtilgences, 263 

6, §1; for any exercise of piety made 
during an hour, in memory of ihe in- 
stitution of tlie Blessed Sacrament; to 
tliose who recite at least ten times dur- 
ing the course of a month the Fange 
Lingua or the Tan turn ergOy V. 

In France, tiie preceding Indulgences 
are transferred, with the solemnities, to 
the following Sunday. 

An Indulgence of Two Hundred 
Days to those who, being contrite and 
having confessed, shall assist at the 
first or second Vespers and Mass, but 
an Indulgence of Two Hundred Days 
within the octave; an Indulgence of One 
Hundred and Sixty Days on this day 
for each of the Little Hours and Com- 
pline, but an Indulgence of only Eighty 
Days within the octave. 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to the Confra- 
ternity of the Blessed Sacrament, on 
the same conditions as for a Plenary 
Indulgence. 

Feast of the Sacred Heart. — A Plenary 
Indulgence to all the faithful on this 
day, or on that to which the feast will 
be transferred with the approbation of 
the Ordinary. It is necessary to visit 



264 Month of tJie Dead. 

the church or public oratory where 
this feast is celebrated. A Plenary In- 
dulgence on this day, or on the follow- 
ing Sunday, to the associates of the 
Confraternity of the Sacred Heart; to 
the Apostleship of Prayer, V. 

An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines for chaplets, crosses, 
etc., as on Jan. 6, § I. An Indulgence 
of Ten Years and Ten Quarantines for 
the Roman Stations on the Ember-days 
in Advent. 



CHAPTER II. 

Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences 
FOR Regular Days in the Year. 

JANUARY. 

I. Circu7ncision of Our Lord. — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to those who, having 
confessed and communicated, pray for 
the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff; 
that is: 

§ I. To the Living Rosary, if the 
members, having previously recited for 
a month, except when legitimately 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 265 

hindered, the assigned decade of the 
chaplet, visit a church. Moreover, an 
Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines* if they recite it there on 
tliis da3\ 

§ II. A Plenary Indulgence to those 
who frequently recite the hymns and 
psalms in honor of the Most Holy 
Name of Jesus, with the prayer. 

§ III. An Indulgence of Thirty Years 
and Thirty Quarantines for the Roman 
Stations. This Indulgence may be 
gained by membe s of the Confraterni- 
ty of tlie Sacred Heart of Jesus, if they 
visit a church where it is erected; those 
who are legitimately hindered can re- 
place it by a work of piety enjoined by 
tlieir confessor; by the members of the 
Congregations of the Blessed Virgin, 
provided they visit their own church, 
chapel,or oratory where it is established, 
and elsewhere the church or chapel of 
the place, and recite there seven times 
the Our Father and the Hail Mary; by 
the Confraternity of the Bona Mors^ pro- 
vided the members visit, if they can, a 
church where it is erected, and pray 
there according to the intention of the 
Pope; by the Association of the Im- 



266 Month of the Dead, 

maculate Conception, provided the as- 
sociates visit on this day the churcli of 
(he association. The same Indulgen- 
ces are gained by the faithful who vvear 
tlie blue scapular of the Immaculate 
Conception; where there is not a 
church of the Theatines, they ought to 
visit one where they will find an altar 
of the Blessed Virgin; by those who 
teach the Christian doctrine in churches, 
as well as by those who come to learn 
it. 

Octave of Christmas, — An Indulgence 
of Twenty Years to those who wear the 
blue scapular of tlie Immaculate Con- 
ception. An Indulgence of Seven Years 
and Seven Quarantines for the posses- 
sors of a chaplet or rosary, cross or 
crucifix, medal or statuette indulgenced 
by the Holy Father, as on Jan. 6, § I. 

6. Epiphaiiy. — § I. A Plenary Indul- 
gence to those who possess a chaplet 
or rosary, cross or crucifix, medal or 
statuette indulgenced by the Pope or 
by a priest having received the power 
to attach to it indulgences called Apos- 
tolic; provided that, having these ob- 
jects about them or being in their 
presence, they recite at least once a 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences. 267 

week the Chaplet of our Lord or that of 
tlie Blessed Virgin, or the Rosary, or the 
Divine Office, or that of the Blessed 
Virgin, or of the Dead, or the Seven 
Penitential Psalms, or tlie Gradual 
Psalms; to those who are in the habit of 
teaching the Christian doctrine, visit- 
ing prisoners or the sick in the hos- 
pitals, relieving the poor, assisting at 
Mass or, if the person is a priest, say- 
ing it. 

§ II. A Plenary Indulgence for 
priests who explain the Gospel, and to 
the faithful who hear it explained on 
Sundays and the greater festivals of 
the year. 

The Indulgences of §§ I. and II. are 
deferred in France till the following 
Sunday to which the solemnity and 
exterior celebration of this feast are 
transferred when it falls on a week- 
day. 

§ III. A Plenary Indulgence to the 
Confraternity of the Bona Mors, V.; 
to the Living Rosary, as on January 

I, § I. 

§ III. Roman Stations. — As on Janu- 
ary I, § III. 

16. Novena in Honor of the Infant 



268 Month of the Dead, 

Jesus. — An Indulgence of One Year to 
those who recite on each of the nine 
days that precede the twenty-fifth of 
any month the five prayers called Of- 
ferings, with the versicles and prayer 
which commence with " Eternal Fa- 
ther," etc. 

1 8. Chair of Saint Peter at Rome. — A 
Plenary Indulgence for the recitation 
of the "R^spons^ovy, Sivis patronu?n, made 
every day, provided that after Confes- 
sion and Communion the faithful visit 
a church or altar dedicated to this 
apostle to-da}^ 

23. Espousals of the Blessed Virgin. — A 
Plenary Indulgence to the Perpetual 
Cultus to Saint Joseph ; to the Liv- 
ing Rosary, as on January i, § I. 

24. Novena of the Purification. — An 
Indulgence of Three Hundred Days 
once a day. 

25. Conversion of Saint Paul. — An In- 
dulgence of One Hundred Days to those 
who recite every day the Responsory, 
P res si nialoriwt^ and a Plenary Indul- 
gence on the Feast of the Conversion 
of Saint Paul, to all who, being truly 
penitent, after Confession and Com- 
munion visit a church or an oratorv 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 269 

dedicated to Saint Paul; ^ to the Arch- 
confraternity of the Holy and Immacu- 
late Heart of Mary; to the Holy In- 
fancy, as on February 25. 

29. One of the TJu^ee Last Days of the 
Month. — A Plenary Indulgence to those 
who have recited every day during the 
month the prayer, ^' O my Lord Jesus 
Ciirist, Who to redeem the world," etc. 
See article on Mass, 



FEBRUARY. 

2. Purifieation. — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the associates of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, if they visit a church 
where this confraternity is established ; 
when legitimately hindered the confes- 
sor can change it into another good 
work ; of the Holy and Immaculate 
Heart of Mary ; of the Bo7ia Mors, V.; 
of the Perpetual Cultus of Saint Joseph; 
of the Blue Scapular ; to those who 
recite in the mormn^ Salve Regina, wixh 
the verse Dignare^ etc., and in the even- 
ing Sub tuum^ etc., with the verse and 
Bene diet us Deus in Sanctis suis j to those 
who make the novena ; to possessors 
of a rosary or chaplet, cross or cruel- 



270 Month of the Dead, 

fix, medal or statuette, as on January 
6, § I. ; for the daily recitation of the 
Litany of the Blessed Virgin, V. An 
Indulgence of Three Years and Three 
Quarantines to members of confrater- 
nities enrolled in the Brown Scapular 
of Mount Carmel who, having confessed 
and communicated, pray in the chapel 
of the confraternity. 

24. Saint Matthias, Apostle, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to those who possess 
a chaplet, cross, medal, etc., as on 
January 6, § I. ; to the Society of 
Good Books (Bordeaux), V. ; to the 
Confraternity of the Bona Mo7's, V. 
An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to the Confraternity 
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, if the as- 
sociates visit the church where it is 
erected; if hindered from doing so, their 
confessor can change it for some other 
work. 

25. On the Twenty- fifth Day of Every 
Month, — A Plenary Indulgence to those 
who shall be present in any church or 
public oratory at the pious exercise, 
and recite the prayers prescribed, in 
honor of the Twelve Mysteries relating 
to the Holy Infancy of Jesus. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences. 271 



MARCH. 

10. Novena to Saint Joseph. — An In- 
dulgence of Three Hundred Davs 
once a day, and a Plenary Indulgence 
once during the novena, or within the 
eight following days, for those who re- 
cite the prayers contained in the Col- 
lection of Novenas by Falcone. 

1 2 . Saint Gregory the Great. — * A P 1 e n - 
ary Indulgence to the associates of the 
Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus who visit the church of the con- 
fraternity. * An Indulgence of Seven 
Years and Seven Quarantines to the 
vSociety of Good Books, V.; * to the 
Associates of the Angelic Warfare who, 
after Confession and Communion, visit 
the church of tlie confiaternity. 

16. Novena for the Annunciation. — An 
Indulgence of Three Hundred Days 
every day; an Indulgence of Three 
Hundred Days for the sixth day of the 
novena to Saint Joseph; an Indulgence 
of One Year, as on January 16, for the 
novena in honor of the Incarnation. 

19. Saint Joseph. — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to those who possess a chaplet, 



2/2 Month of the Dead. 

medal, etc., as on January 6, § I.; 
to the Association of the Holy Infancy 
of Jesus, on condition tliat the mem- 
bers pray for the extension of this work ; 
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, V.; * to 
the Holy and Immaculate Heart of 
Mary; to the Immaculate Conception, 
v.; to the Bona Moi'S, V.; to the Chris- 
tian Mothers ; to the Feipetiial Cultiisoi 
Saint Joseph; to the faithful who wear 
the blue scapular; to those who made 
the novena. 

25. Ainiunciation of the B I esse el Virgin. 
— As on February 2. 

APRIL. 

2. Saint Francis of Pan I. — The ex- 
ercises of the thirteen Fridays preced- 
ing- this feast may be made at any 
other time of the year ; a Plenary In- 
dulgence on any one of the thirteen 
Fridays, and an Indulgence of Seven 
Years and Seven Quarantines on each 
of the other Fridays, if the faithful, 
being truh^ peniter.t, after Confession 
and Comnumion, shall visit a church 
of the Minims, and pray there for tlie 
intentions of the Church. Moreover, 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 273 

wherever tliere are no churches of the 
above-named Order, or where they are 
distant at least a mile from a person's 
own dwelling, the faithful are allowed 
to visit any oiher cliurch dedicated to 
God in honor of Saint Francis of Paul, 
or any altar wliere there is a picture 
of this saint ; and further, if these con- 
ditions cannot be complied with, to 
visit their own parish church. 

4. Saint Isidore. — ^An Ind ulo-ence of 
Seven Years and Seven Quai'antines 
to the Society of Good Books at Bor- 
deaux, V. 

Saint Ambrose. — *An Indulgence of- 
Seven Years and Seven Quarantines 
to the Angelic Warfare, Confession, 
Com.munion, Visit. 

8. Saint Albert. — An Indulgence of 
Twenty Years to the Blue Scapular. 

11. ^aint Leo the Great. — ^An Indul- 
gence of Seven Years and Seven Quar- 
antines to the Society of Good Books, 
V. 

12. Saint Cajetan {^canonization). — A 
Plenarv Indulgence to the Blue Scapu- 
lar. 

16. Novena. — As on January 16. 

21. Saint Anselm, — *An Indulgence of 



2/4 Month of the Dead, 

Seven Years and Seven Quarantines 
to the Society of Good Booi^s, V. 

25. Saint Mark. — As on February 25. 
Stations, as on January i, § III. 

29. Saint Peter, Martyr. — *An Indul- 
gence of Seven Years and Seven Quar- 
antines to the Angelic Warfare ; Con- 
fession, Communion, Visit to the church 
of the confraternity. 

30. Triduo for the Propagation of the 
Faith. — An Indulgence of Three Hun- 
dred Days to those who belong to the 
Work of the Propagation of the Faith 
who shall be present at the Triduo 
which precedes the Feast of the Finding 
of the Holy Cross. If this feast is law- 
fully transferred, the Indulgence is also 
transferred. Those who are legitimate- 
ly hindered may gain the Indulgence 
by making this Triduo in private. 

MAY. 

An Indulgence of One Hundred Days 
each day of this month for the exer- 
cises of the Month of Mary, and a 
Plenary Indulgence once in this month. 

I. Saints Philip a/id James^ Apostles. — 
As on February 24. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences. 275 

2. Saint Athanasius. — *An Indulgence 
of Seven Years and Seven Quarantines 
to the Society of Good Books, V. 

3. Finding of the Holy Cross, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to those v^ho have in- 
scribed their names in the Work of the 
Propagation of the Faith, to be gained 
once from the commencement of first 
Vespers to sunset on the last day of the 
octave, if they visit, after Confession 
and Communion, a church or oratory 
where this association is erected or else 
their parish church, and pray there ac- 
cording to the intention of the Pope. 
When this feast is lawfully transferred, 
the inscribed members who have not 
gained the Indulgence at the fixed time 
may gain it then, if they visit the 
church or oratory where the feast is 
celebrated, from the hour of the first 
Vespers till sunset on the day of the 
feast. If hindered, the visit can be 
changed by their confessor. The in- 
scribed associates give an alms of fifty 
cents a year; the poor need only give 
according to their means, some trifle 
each month at least. All recite once 
each day an Our Father and Hail Mary ^ 



276 Month of the Dead, 

and the invocation, ''Saint Francis 
Xavier, pray for us." 

JUNE. 

16. Noveiia, — As on January 16. 

18. Saint Arnand of Bordeaux. — ^An 
Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the Society of Good 
Books, V. 

20. A Plenary Indulgence on any of 
the nine days preceding and the seven 
v\^hich follow all the feasts of Saints 
Peter and Paul, to those who, after Con- 
fession and Communion, shall visit with 
devotion a church or an altar dedicated 
to these holy apostles, and recite there 
the prayer, " O blessed apostles Peter 
and Paul," etc., together with an Oicr 
Father^ Hail Mary, and Glory be to the 
Father^ and pra}?- for holy Church. 

21. Sa int A loysiu s Gonzaga . — A P 1 e n a- 
ry Indulgence to all the faithful who, 
being truly penitent, after Confession 
and Communion, shall visit a church 
where this feast is celebrated, and pray 
for the ordinary intentions. 

22. Saint Paulinus. — ^An Indulgence 
of Seven Years and Seven Quarantines 
to the Society of Good Books, V. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences. 277 

24. Chaplets. medals, etc., as on Jan. 6. 

25. As on Feb. 25. 

29. Saints Peter and Paul. — As on 
Febniaiy 24; but there is a Plenary 
Indulgence to the Blue Scapular and 
the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus; to the members of the Living 
Rosary who recite their decade for a 
month; ^an Indulgence of Seven Years 
and Seven Quarantines if they say it 
on this day. All these Indulgences are 
transferred with the solemnity. 

30. Commemoration of Saint Paul. — A 
Plenary Indulgence to those wlio re- 
cite every day the Responsory, Pressi 
nialorum, in honor of Saint Paul, provid- 
ed that, being truly penitent, after Con- 
fession and Communion, they shall visit 
a church or altar dedicated to the same 
holy apostle. An Indulgence of One 
Hundred Days once a day. 

JULY. 

2. Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
— A Plenary Indulgence to the Con- 
fraternity of the Rosar}^, V.; to the 
Living Rosary ; to those enrolled in 
the Confraternity of the Scapular of 



278 Month of the Dead, 

Mount Carmel, who communicate in 
the chapel of the confraternity. An 
Indulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the Blue Scapular, as 
v^ell as for chaplets, crosses, medals, 
etc., indicated on January 6, §1; like- 
wise to the Confraternity of the Sa- 
cred Heart of Jesus, V. 

13. Translation of Saint Teresa. — An 
Indulgence of Twenty Years to the 
Bhie Scapular. 

14. St, Bonaventura, Doctor, — *An In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the Society of Good 
Books, V. 

16. Our Lady of Mount Carmel. — A 
Plenary Indulgence to all invested 
with the Scapular of Mount Carmel ; 
to the Living Rosary, V. 

Novena, as on January 16. 

19. Saint Vincent of Paul. — ^A Plenary 
Indulgence to the associates of the 
Work of the Holy Infancy, on condi- 
tion of praying for its extension. 

20. Saint ferorne Emiliani, — A Plenary 
Indulgence to-day or within the octave, 
v., for those who recite every day in 
the year, " My sweetest Jesus, be not 
my Judge, but my Saviour." 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences 279 

22. Saint Mary Magdalen. — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to the Arcliconfrater- 
nity of tlie Holy and Immaculate Heart 
of Mary. 

25. Saint James, Apostle. — As on Feb- 
ruary 24. 

29. Saint Anne. — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the faithful who recite ten 
times a month the prayer, " Hail, full 
of grace," etc., V. 

27 to 30. — As on June 20. 

31. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to those who visit a 
church of the Jesuits. 

AUGUST. 

1. Saint Peter s Chains. — As on June 
20. 

2. Portiuncula. — A Plenary Indul- 
gence as many times as the faithful 
"Msit any church of the Order of St. 
Francis from first Vespers to sun- 
set. 

6. Commencement of the Novena for 
the Assumption. — An Indulgence of 
Three Hundred Days every day for 
the prayers indicated in the Raccolta, 
p. 284, or in the collection by Falcone. 



28o Month of the Dead, 

15. Assuy/iption. — As on February 2. 

t6. Saints Hyacinth and Alipe. — An 
Indulgence of Forty Years to the Blue 
Scapular. An Indulgence of Thirty 
Years and Thirty Quarantines, as well 
as for the six following days, to those 
who shall visit a church of the Carmel- 
ites. 

20. Saint Bernard^ Doctor.— '^ Kn In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the Society of Good 
Books, V. 

24. Saint Bar tJwloniew, Apostle. — As on 
February 24. 

25. — As on February 25. 

27. Transverberaiion of Saint Teresa. 
— A Plenary Indulgence to the Blue 
Scapular. 

28. Saint Augustine, Doctor, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to the Blue Scapu- 
lar; ^to the Society of Good Books, 
v.; an Indulgence of Three Hundred 
Days for the first day of the novena 
for the Nativity, to tliose who recite the 
prayers indicated. 

30. Saint Rose of Lima, — First day of 
the novena for the Nativity. An Indul- 
gence of Three Hundred Days every 
da}^, as on November 29. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 281 

31. An Indulgence of Three Hundred 
Days for the novena. 



SEPTEMBER. 

2 and 5. — An Indulgence of Twenty 
Years to the Blue Scapular. 

8. Nativity. — As on February 2. 

21. Saint Matthetv^ Apostle, — As on 
February 24. 

24. Our Lady of Mercy. — A Plenary 
Indulgence to the Living Rosary, V. 

25. As on February 25. 

30. Saint feronie^ Doctor and Confes- 
sor. — *An Indulgence of Seven Years 
and Seven Quarantines to the Society 
of Good Books, V. 

OCTOBER. 

2. Guardian Angels. — A Plenary In- 
dulgence to the Blue Scapular; ^'to 
the Association of the Work of the 
Holy Infancy, on condition of praying 
for its extension; for the prayer, "An- 
gel of God," etc., in honor of the An- 
gel Guardian, recited morning and 
evening, all the year. 

8. Saint Bridget. — A Plenary Indul- 



282 Month of the Dead, 

gence at the liour of death to those who 
usually recite, at least once a week, the 
Chaplet of Saint Bridget, V. 

lo. Saint Francis Borgia. — A Plenary 
Indulgence for a visit to a Jesuit church. 

i6 and 21. — An Indulgence of Twenty 
Years to the Blue Scapuhir. 

21. Saint Seiirin. — "^An Indulgence of 
Seven Years and Seven Quarantines to 
the Society of Good Books, V. 

23. Jesus of Nazareth. — A Plenary 
Indulgence to those who recite fre- 
quently, during the year, the hymns 
and psalms in honor of the Most Holy 
Name of Jesus. 

24. Saint Raphael^ A r change! . — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to those who recite 
each day the Angelic Chaplet. 

25 — As on February 25. 
28. Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. — 
As on February 24. 

NOVEMBER. 

I. All Saints\ — A Plenary Indulgence 
to the members of the Confraternity 
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus if they 
visit a church wdiere it is erected, if 



Perpetual Calendar cf IndiLlgences. 283 

possible; otherwise the confessor can 
change it; to the Confraternity of the 
Bona Mors, V.; to the members of the 
Living Rosary who have recited their 
decade for a month, V. ^An Indul- 
gence of Seven Years and Seven Quar- 
antines if they recite it on this day. To 
the possessors of a chaplet, crucifix, 
cross, medal, or statuette, as on Janu- 
ary 6. 

2. All Souls Day, — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the members of the Confra- 
ternity of the Sacred Heart, as on All 
Saints' Day. On this day. or on one 
of the seven following days, to the 
Archconfraternity of the Dead estab- 
lished at Rome, V. On this day all 
priests enjoy the Indulgence of the 
privileged altar. 

4. An Indulgence of One Hundred 
Days for the first day of the novena in 
honor of Saint Stanislas Kostka. 

II. Saint Martin, Bishop and Con- 
fessor, — '^A Plenary Indulgence for the 
Archconfraternity to repair blasphe- 
mies and violations of the Sunday, es- 
tablished in the church of St. Martin, 
at Lanoue, to those members w^ho visit 



284 Month of the Dead. 

this church, or, in case of hindrance, 
visit their parish clmrch. This Indul- 
gence may be gained to-day or on one 
of the seven following days. 

12. Last Day of the Novena to Saint 
Stanislas. — An Indulgence of One Hun- 
dred Days. 

First Day of the Novena in Honor of the 
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, — An 
Indulgence of Three Hundred Days 
every day during the novena, or on 
some day in its octave, provided the 
faithful make use of the prayers from 
the Collection of Novenas by Falcone. 

13. Saint Stanislas Kostka. — A Plenary 
Indulgence for a visit to a church where 
this feast is celebrated, and prayer made 
there. 

21. Presentation. — A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the associates of the Holy 
Infancy of Jesus, on condition that they 
pray for the extension of this work; 
to the associates of the Rosary, V. 
An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to the Blue Scapu- 
lar; to the Confraternity of the Sacred 
Heart, V.; to the possessor of a chap- 
let, cross, medal, etc., as on January 6. 

29. First Day of the Novena in Honor 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences, 285 

of the Iiniuaciilate Conception. — An Indul- 
gence of Three Hundred Days each day, 
and a Plenary Indulgence once, during 
the novena, or the eight days which fol- 
low it, if, in making it, the Collection of 
Novenas by Falcone is used. An In- 
dulgence of Three Hundred Days each 
day and a Plenary Indulgence either 
on the feast itself or on some day in 
its octave, if tliC prayers of he novena 
in the Raccolta are used, and if, on the 
day of gaining the Plenary Indulgence, 
the faithful pray to God and Mar}'' ac- 
cording to the intention of the Pope. 

30. Saint Andrew, Apostle. — As on 
February 24. 

Triduo for tJie Propagation of the Faith. 
— As on April 30. 

DECEMBER. 

An Indulgence of Ten Years and 
Ten Quarantines on the first, second, 
and fourth Sundays of Advent, for the 
Roman Stations. An Indulgence of 
Fifteen Years and Fifteen Quarantines 
on the third Sunda3\ 

3. St. Francis Xavier. — A Plenary 
Indulgence for a visit to a Jesuit 



286 Month of the Dead, 

church; * to the Work of the Holy In- 
fancy, if the members pray for its ex- 
tension; to the Propagation of the 
Faith, v., as on May 3. 

4. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Doctor. — 
* An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to the Society of 
Good Books, V. 

7. Saint Ambrose^ Doctor. — ^ An In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the Society of Good 
Books, V. 

8. Iimnacidate Conception. — As on Feb- 
ruary 2. A Plenary Indulgence like- 
wise to the members of the conferences 
of Saint Vincent de Paul, provided they 
communicate at the Mass celebrated 
for them and take part in the general 
assembly. 

24. Christmas Eve, — An Indulgence 
of Fifteen Years and Fifteen Quaran- 
tines for the Stations. (See January i, 
§ III.) A Plenary Indulgence at the end 
of the novena made by those who wear 
the blue scapular. To all the faithful 
who recite the Divine Office, or assist at 
it in some church, an Indulgence of One 
Year for the first Vespers, Matins, and 
Lauds. 



Perpetual Calendar of Indulgences. 287 

25. Christmas. — * A Plenary Indul- 
gence to the associates of the Work 
of the Holy Infancy, to be gained once 
from Christmas to the Purification: 
children who have not yet made their 
first Communion can gain it without 
communicating; to the Congregations 
of the Blessed Virgin; to the Confra- 
ternity of the Rosary, visit in the 
chapel of the Rosary; to the Living 
Rosary, V.; to the Blue Scapular; for 
chaplets, medals, crosses, etc., as on 
January 6, § I; for the novena; for the 
exercise indicated on February 25; to 
those who have the habit of assisting 
at the Catechism or of teaching others 
the Christian doctrine, of assisting de- 
voutly at the sermon or of making it; to 
the Confraternity of \\\^ Bona Mors ^ V. 
An Indulgence of One Hundred Years 
for assisting at Mass or Vespers. An 
Indulgence of Forty Years for each of 
the hours of Prime, Tierce, Sext, None, 
and Compline. 

Stations, — An Indulgence of Fifteen 
Years and Fifteen Quarantines from 
the midnight Mass to that of daybreak; 
the remainder of the day a Plenary In- 



288 Month of the Dead, 

dulgence for the confraternities indi- 
cated on January i, § III. 

26. Saint Stephen^ First Martyr. — Sta- 
tions, as on January i, § III. An Indul- 
gence of Seven Years and Seven Quar- 
antines for the decade of the Living 
Rosary which the associates recite. 

27. Saint John ^ Apostle. — As on Feb- 
ruary 24. Stations, as on January i, 
§ III., with an Indulgence of Thirty 
Years and Thirty Quarantines. 



CHAPTER III. 

Indulgences which are granted 

PERIODICALLY EaCH WeEK, EaCH 

Month, and Each Year. 

each week. 

A Plenary Indulgence once a week 
on the day of reunion, indicated by the 
statutes, rules, or the custom of the 
Congregations of the Blessed Virgin, 
called Prima Primaria^ or of other con- 
gregations erected elsewhere, or to be 
erected; provided the associates, having 
confessed and communicated, visit the 



Periodical Indulgences, 289 

church or chapel, oratory, or the place 
of their congregation and their respec- 
tive confraternity, and pray for the in- 
tention of the Holy Father. 

Every Monday. — An Indulgence of 
Seven Years and Seven Quarantines to 
those who wear tlie blue scapular of 
the Immaculate Conception and make 
a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. 

On the First Monday of the Month. — 
An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to the Archconfra- 
ternity for the Relief of the Souls in 
Purgatory established at Rome, V. 

Every Tuesday. — An Indulgence of 
One Hundred Days once a day to the 
faithful who recite the prayer of this 
day for the souls in Purgatory, fol- 
lowed by Our Father, Hail Mary, and 
De profundis, and pray some time for 
the intention of the Pope. - 

Every Wednesday. — An Indulgence of 
Three Hundred Days for those in- 
vested with the scapular of Mount 
Carmel who abstain from meat on this 
day. 

First Thursday of the Month. — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence for the prayer, "Look 
down, O Lord, from Thy sanctuary/' 



290 Month of the Dead. 

etc., recited to-day before the Blessed 
Sacrament. An Indulgence of Seven 
Years and Seven Quarantines when re- 
cited on another Thursday, kneeling 
before the Blessed Sacrament, after 
Confession and Communion. An In- 
dulgence of One Hundred Days, if re- 
cited vi^ith a contrite heart on other 
days. 

Every Friday. — An Indulgence of 
One Hundred Days to the members of 
the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment who visit the church v^here a con- 
fraternity of this name is established. 
^An Indulgence of Seven Years and 
Seven Quarantines to those who, in- 
vested with the red scapular of the Pas- 
sion, receive Holy Communion and re- 
cite five times the Our Father^ Hail 
Mary^ and Glory be to the Father^ while 
devoutly thinking on the Passion of our 
Lord Jesus Christ ; ^ a Plenary Indul- 
gence if they meditate for some time 
on the Passion, and pray likewise for 
the ordinary intentions. Those who are 
lawfully hindered on Friday may gain 
this Indulgence by transferring Con- 
fession and Communion to the follow- 
ing Sunday. 



Periodical Iiuhtlgen ces, 29 1 

Third Friday of tJie Month. — An In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to those who wear tlie blue 
scapular, provided they go to Commun- 
ion. 

One Friday of the Month, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to the Apostleship of 
Prayer, on condition of Confession, 
Communion, and a visit to the parish 
church. 

One Friday or Sunday in the Month, at 
the choice of the associates of the Con- 
fraternity of the Bona Mors who comr 
municate in the church where it is es- 
tablished, provided tliat on this day 
they assist devoutly at the exposition 
of tlie Blessed Sacrament ; an Indul- 
gence of Seven Years and Seven Quar- 
antines if they assist devoutly at the 
exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, 
when it takes place on the Friday or 
Sunday noted above, praying there for 
the ordinary intentions of the Church. 

First Friday or Sunday of the Month, 
— The members of the Confraternity 
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus may gain 
a Plenary Indulgence if they have 
recited every day the Our Father. Hail 
Mary, Creed, and '' O sweetest Heart 



2g2 Month of the Dead. 

of Jesus! I implore that I may ever 
love Thee more and more," provided 
tliey go to Confession, receive Com- 
munion, and pray for the intention of 
the Pope. 

Every Saturday. — ^An Indulgence of 
Five Hundred Days to all the faithful 
who assist devoutly at the Mass cele- 
brated every Saturday in honor of the 
Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of 
Mary in tlie oratory or church of the 
archconfraternity of that name, and 
pray there for the conversion of sin- 
ners. , 

An Indulgence of Three Hundred 
Days to those invested with the scap- 
ular of Mount Carmel who abstain 
from meat on this day. 

EACH MONTH. 

Oji any Sunday whatever in the Month. 
— A Plenary Indulgence lor those in- 
vested with the brown scapular who as- 
sist at the procession made one Sunday 
of eacii month by this confraternity, 
with permission of the Ordinary of the 
place, if, having confessed and com- 
municated, they pray there devoutly. 



Periodical Indulgences. 293 

For the union of three persons in 
honor of the Blessed Trinity who, at 
three different hours, in the morning, 
afternoon, and evening, recite together 
or separately, each time, the Glory be to 
the Father seven times, and the Hail 
Mary once, with at least contrite heart, 
the following Indulgences have been 
granted : an Indulgence of One Hun- 
dred Days once a day, an Indulgence 
of Seven Years and Seven Quarantines 
each Sunday, and a Plenary Indulgence 
on two Sundays of the month, pro- 
vided that the recitation of these 
prayers has been daily, V. *An In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the associates of the 
Living Rosary who recite the decade 
assigned on Sundays and on festivals, 
comprising those on which there is no 
obligation to hear Mass. (See also 
the Sundays in the following article.) 

FOR A PARTICULAR SUNDAY OF THE 
MONTH. 

First Sunday of the Afonth. — A Plen- 
ar}^ Indulgence to those who wear the 
blue scapular; to the members who 



294 Month of the Dead, 

visit the churcli of the confraternity, 
or the chapel of the Rosary, or who 
assist at the procession. 

If the Plenary Indulgence indicated 
on Friday for the members of the 
Confraternity of^ the Sacred Heart has 
not been gained, it may be to-day. 

Third Sunday of the Month,— K VX^xs- 
ary Indulgence to the members of the 
Confraternit}^ of the Blessed Sacrament 
who assist at the procession on this day, 
and who visit a church or public 
orator}^, and there pray for the inten- 
tion of the Pope; to all the members 
of the Living Rosar}^ who recite the 
assigned decade every da}^, at least for 
a month, except when legitimately 
hindered, V. 

Last Sunday of the Month, — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to the faithful not in- 
scribed in the Confiaternity of the 
Rosary wlio have recited in company 
with others the third part of the chaplet 
at least three times a week, V. 

ON ANY DAY IN THE MONTH. 

A Plenary Indulgence to the mem- 
bers of the Confraternity of the Sacred 



Periodical Indulgences, 295 

Heart of Jesus who have recited each 
day the Our Father^ Hail Mary, Creed, 
and aspiration. Another Plenary In- 
dulgence is, moreover, granted to those 
who are affiliated to the Archconfra- 
ternity at Moulins. An Indulgence of 
Five Years and Five Quarantines to 
those invested with the brown scapular 
who, after Confession and Communion, 
pray for the Pope's intentions. An In- 
dulgence of Seven Years and Seven 
Quarantines to the members of the 
Society of Good Books, who assist at 
the Mass celebrated once a month for 
the benefactors of this work. 

On T^iuo Days in the Month. — A Plen- 
ary Indulgence to the members of the 
Archconfraternity of the Holy and Im- 
maculate Heart of Mary, V.: in case of 
infirmity or other impediment, the con- 
fessor can replace this visit by some 
other work; to the Association of Zeal; 
to those inscribed in the Work of the 
Propagation of the Faith w-ho visit the 
church or public oratory of the asso- 
ciation, or their parish church. Twice 
a month, the Indulgence of the Seven 
Basilicas at Rome, provided that those 
who wear the blue scapular pray be- 



296 Month of the Dead. 

fore tne seven altars erected in a 
church of the Theatines; and in a place 
where there are no churches of this 
Order, one where they will find an altar 
of the Blessed Virgin. For the same, 
the Indulgences of the Holy Sepulchre 
and of the Holy Land twice a month, 
by praying in this church. 

EACH YEAR. 

A Plenary Indulgence on the anni- 
versary of the baptism of every assoc- 
iate of the Archconfraternity of the 
Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, 
to all associates who daily recite the 
Hail Mary ^ in honor of the Holy Heart 
of Mary, for the conversion of sinners, 
and receive the Sacraments. A Plen- 
ary Indulgence once a year to those 
who wear the blue scapular; they can 
gain another Plenary Indulgence by 
making the spiritual exercises of the 
retreat. 

A Plenary Indulgence once a 3^ear 
to the division or the decury of the 
members of the Propagation of the 
Faith ; to those who have recited the 
piayer, '' May it be done," etc.; for the 



Indulgences at the Hour of Death. 297 

Angelus; to those wlio liave recited at 
least the third part of the Rosary every 
day. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Indulgences at the Hour of Death. 

Conditions: to be resigned to death; 
to receive Confession and Communion, 
if possible; to say with the lips the 
Holy Name of Jesus; if unable to do 
this, to invoke it at least with the heart. 

A Plenar}^ Indulgence for those who 
have frequently recited the Acts of 
Faith, Hope, and Charity; the prayer, 
**May it be done," etc.; the prayer to 
the Angel Guardian; the Holy Name of 
Jesus; to the possessors of chaplets, 
rosaries, crosses, crucifixes, statuettes, 
or indulgenced medals, who have done 
what is indicated on January 6, § I.; to 
the Work of the Propagation of the 
Faith ; to the Confraternity of the 
Blessed Sacrament; to the Archcon- 
fraternity of the Holy and Immaculate 
Heart of Mary; to the Congregations 
of the Blessed Virgin; to the Society 
of Good Books, etc. 



" We do not sufficiently remember our dead."' 

S^. Francis de Sales. 

A New Book by the Author of Golden Sands." 

Little Montli of the Souls in Purgatory. 

Translated from the French by 

MISS ELLA McMAHON. 

Supplemented by many Prayers for the Suffering 

Souls, A Rosary, A Way of the Cross, and 

A Manner of Hearing Mass for the 

Souls in Purgatory. 



32mo, Black Maroquette, Silver Stamps on side, 35 cents. 

This little book is a series of pious thoughts on our re- 
lations with the souls of our beloved dead. 

By way of introduction will be found a brief exposition 
of the doctrine of the Catholic Church on the subject of 
Purgatory. On this doctrine is based every thought of the 
work, which therefore appeals more directly and con- 
fidently to the pious souls for whom it is specially written. 

The author's aim is particularly to console, to 
strengthen, and to lead to God souls cast down, 
discouraged, and sometimes, alas! estranged from God 
by the death of loved ones, — souls of insufficient faith, un- 
able to raise their eyes to heaven and behold those who 
have gone from them eternally happy with God, or await- 
ing a speedy entrance into eternal happiness. He seeks to 
soothe their grief, and help them to find again in spiritual 
intercourse with their dead that calmness and strength 
which enable us to endure life, to continue in the perform- 
ance of our duty, and to fit ourselves to rt- join our oved 
ones in heaven, whither they are calling and awaiting us. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Uncinnatl, and St. Louis. 



One Angel More 

In Heaven. 

With Letters of Condolence and of Consolation 
By St. Francis de Sales 

AND OTHERS. 

Translated from the French by M. A. M. 



^Vhite maroquette, gUt side, - - - 50 cents 

" An admirable little book. Its contents are not only un- 
exceptionable, but are well calculated to cjirry consolation 
to the hearts of parents mourning over their bereavement, 
by the death of little ones who have been translated into 
heaven .... " — Catholic Standard. 

*'.... It impresses one >vith the touching beanty of its 
twofold mission, which is to console some grief-stricken 
mother and to lead some little one to heaven...." — 
Catholic Herald. 

*'.... No more beautiful and appropriate token of sym- 
pathy, or one more calculated to afford consolation, could 
be sent to a grief-stricken friend." — The New Record. 

"... One child less on earth is a trivial matter to the 
selfish world, but to the hearts of those to whom the little 
creature was the pride and joy, its loss is truly a sore trial. 
For such afflicted ones the little book liefo^e us holds 
much consolation."— J//c/^?^-<^7^ Catholic. 

"...,The little volume speaks to the heart of the be- 
reaved parent, teaching it at the same time that we must 
in all cases and at all times bow in humble submission to 
thedecreesof Divine Providence...." — The Morning Star. 

*'...•» Will bring consolation to many a Christian house- 
hold visited by the Angel of Death " — Providence 

Visitor. 

*'An edifying little book, full of the spirit of consolation 
and love... The paper, letter-press, and binding are of a 
superior character, and the little volume is neat and at- 
tractive in appearance."— 7/^^ Catholic. 

BENZIGER BROTH ERvS, New York, Cincinnati, and St Louis. 



Golden Sands. 

FOURTH SERIES. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 

By Miss ELLA McMAHON. 
82mOf Steel-plate Frontispiece, ClotJi, 60 cts. 

His Grace the Most Rev. Archbishop of Avignon, in 
approving this book, writes to the author ; " It is a subject 
of rejoicing, and I am the firsi: to rejoice at the appearance 
of the fourth series of your Golden Sands. The more 
we have of them the more we want ; and as Our Lord 
has blessed the hunger and thirst after justice, it is fitting 
you should labor to gather, in even greater numbers, these 
fragments which I hope to see welded into precious ingots." 



A THOUGHT FROM 

Saint Francis of pissisi 

AND HIS SAINTS 
F^or Eachi Day of thie Yea.r. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY 

Miss Margaret A. Colton 
S2mOf Steel'plate JFrontispiece, Cloth, 50 cts. 

The voice of the Supreme Pontiff has so stirred the 
devotion of the faithful for the Seraph of Assisi and his 
*' Army of Saints" that the publishers are encouraged to 
issue this little book in the hope that it will prove oppor- 
tune and acceptable. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



SECOND, REVISED EDITION. 

The Life of Father Jogues, 

Missionary Priest of the Society of Jesus. Slain by the 
Mohawk Iroquois, in the present State of New York, Oct. 
18, 1646. By Father FELIX MARTIN, S.J. Witli Father 
Jogues' Account of the Ciiptivily and Death of his €oim- 
paTiion, Rene (ilonpil, slain Sept 29, 1642. Translated from 
the French by JOHN GILMARY SHEA. With a Portrait, 
and a Map of the Mohawk Country by Gen. John S.Clark, 

r^tno, cloth, $1.00, 



'*.... A most interesting history of the life and death 
of a deeply religious and devoted man." — Tlie Sun. 

".... It is impossible for any one of any church, or 
not of any, to read the life now presented, without being 
filled with admiration of so bright and beautiful a 
character." — Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 

" There is no man, however learned, who will not 

be benefited by reading a record of a missionary so coura- 
geous, of a martyr so faithful to the last," — London Tablet^ 

"... .Interesting as a romance, especially for Ameri- 
cans."— New York Freeman's Jouryial. 

'* Dr. John Gilm ary Shea, has not only carefully 

edited it, but has also added invaluable notes drawn from 
his own vast store-house of knowledge, concerning the 
early history of America."— The Catholic Mirror. 

*' .. The romance of religious heroism in its most 
attractive form is here displayed." —The Catholic World, 

"".... There is no brighter page of heroism in American 
history than the record of the Catholic missionaries who 
were slain on account of their faith in the Mohawk 
countTy.''— Catholic Universe. 

"... Asa record of the most exalted Christian heroism, 
is full of interest." — Liverpool Catholic Times and 
Catholic Opinion. 

" The style is of that dignified simplicity which is 

alone tolerable with so lofty a thcmti.'"-T7ie 3lonth, Loudon. 

" .. .Furnishes interesting reading even to non-Cath- 
olics." — Catholic Exarainer. 

"... It is a very interesting biography."— Western 
Watchman. 

" Narrates without the slightest shade even of rhet- 
orical embellishment or exaggeration the heroic labors, 
suffering, firm faith and devotion to. God of Father Jogues 
and his Q.om\)a.mon.^''— Catholic Standard, 

«^ENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



THE CENTENARY EDITION. 

ASCETICAL WORKS OF ST. ALPHONSUS 

18 vols., I*rice, per vol., net, $1.'^5» 

Each book complete in itself, — any volume sold separate y. 

Yol. I. Preparation for Death ; or, Considerations )n 
the Eternal Truths. Maxinisof Eteraity — Kuleof l>iie. 

Vol. 11, Way of Salvation and of Perfection : JNleci- 
tations. Pious Keflections. Spiritual Treatises. 

Vol. III. Great Means of Salvation and of Prrfec 
TION : Prayer. Mental Prayer. The Exercises of a 
Retreat. Choice of a State of Life, and the Vocatici) 
to the Reli,i>:ious State and to the Priesthood. 

Vol. IV., v., VI. The Mvstrkies of the Faith: i. In- 
carnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ. 2. The 
Redemption, Passion and Death ot Jesus Christ. 3. 
'J"he Holy Eucharist, Sacrifice, and Sacred Heart of 
Jesus Christ. Practice of Love of Jesus Christ. No- 
vena to tlie Holy Ghost. 

Vol. VII-, VIII. Glories of Mary ; i. Explanation of the 
Salve Regina^ or Hail, Holy Queen. Discourses on the 
Feasts of Mary. 2. HerJ)olors. Her Virtues. Prac- 
tices. Examples. Answers to Critics — Devotion to the 
Holy Angels. Devotion to St. Jos ph. Novena to St. Te- 
resa. Novena for the Repose of the Souls in Purgatory. 

Vol.IX. ViCTORiEsoF THE Martyrs; or, The Lives of 
the Most Celebrated Martyrs of the Church. 

Vol. X., XI. The TrueSpouse of JesusChrist : i. The 
first sixteen Chaptefs. 2. The last eight Chapters. 
Appendix and various small Works. Spiritual Letters. 

Vol. XU. Congregation of 'ihe Most Holy Redeemer : 
Rule.Tnstiuctionsabout the Religious State. Letters and 
Circulars. Lives of two Fathers and of a Lay-brother. 

"\ d1. Xlll. Dignity and J)uties of the Priest: A Col 
lection of Material for Ecclesiastical Retreats. Rule 
of Life and Spiritual Rules. 

Vol. XIV. The Holy Mass: Sacrifice of Jesus Christ 
Ceremonies of the Mass. Preparation and Thanks- 
giving. The Mass and the Office that are hurriedly said. 

Vol. XV. The Divine Office: Translation of the Psalms 
and Hymns. 

I'ttl. XVI. Preaching: The Exercises of the Missions. 
Various Counsels. Instructions on the Commandments 
and Saciaments. 

T'ol. XVII. Sermons for the Sundays. 

lol. XYllI. Various Small Works: Discourses on Calam- 
ities. Reflections useful for Bishops. Seminaries. 
Ordinances. Letters. General Alphabetical Index. 

BENZtGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Loiiff. 



Life of tlie Yen. Mary Crescentia Boss 

of the Third Order of St. Francis. Drawn from 
the Acts of the Beatification and other reliably 
soLirces by Rev. Ignatius Jeiler, O. S. F. 
Translated by Rev. Clemeniinus Deymann, 
O.S.F. With permission of Superiors. 

12ino, Buctra cloth, inJc *£• gold, $1.S0. 
To promote veneration for the Ven. M. Crescentia in 
wider circles than tliose in wliich she has hitherto been 
known is the first object of this book, which is written with 
the special view of increasing the interest necessary for the 
resumption of the process of her beatification. I'o this end, 
also, the materials have been selected and arranged. Vet, 
it must be obvious to all that the main object aiint^d at in a 
biography of this description is to increase religious instruc- 
tion and devotion. The life of this servant of God pre- 
sents on the one side, a series of extraordinary phenomena, 
since from childhood upwards, nay, from her very infancy, 
she was called to modes of prayer and of interior life, which 
are vouchsafed by God but to the few, and to which none 
unbidden may dare intrude; yet this expansion of soul, 
which is not suitable for all, remained, in her case, before 
her death, as also after it, on the whole, a hidden fact, a 
secret to the world. 

Her superiors had indeed taken measures to commit to 
writing the account of her extraordinary states, her visions 
and i-evelations, for the benefit of posterity, but their efforts 
to produce the effects iht^y desired were frustrated. The 
Lord, however, has so ordered it that^ we possess exact 
and appropriate information of the virtues and exercises 
bv the practice of which, as a child, as a young maiden, 
and as a religious, she became a mirror of perfection and 
a complete model for imitation. 

Following these indications of Divine Providence, this 
book carefully selects the characteristics of her life, and 
those expressions to which she gave utterance which bear 
upon the pious practices of her genuine life, whether in- 
teriorly or exteriorly. 

Only the smallest portion refers exclusively to religious 
Orders ; consequently, good Christians living in the world 
may find instruction and edification in the words and 
example of this consecrated virgin. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



SIXTH EDITION NOW RrADYl 

Catholic Christianity 
^ Modern Unbelief. 

A plain and brief statement of the real doctrines of 
the Roman Catholic Church ?s opposed to those falsely 
attributed to her, by Christians who reject her authori- 
ty, and by unbelievers in Revelation ; that thus a Coii- 
tr.'ist may be easily drawn between the '' Faith once 
delivered to the Saints,'' and the conflicting Theories, 
and Scientific Guesses of the present Age ; and serving 
as a Rctutrttioii to the assaults of modern Infidelity. 
By the Kisilit Uev. J. D. KICARDS, D.D., Bishop of 
Retinio, and Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern Vicariate 
of the Cape Colony. i2mo. Cloth, . 7iet^ $i.oo 



This iisef L practical, and fsiscinatinjr work, which has 
net with a sale seldom accorded a Catholic book, has just 
been 

Honored by the following Letter from the Holy Father: 
IvKO. F>F». XIII. 

Venerable Brothkf, Health and apostolical benediction. 
Thy active spirit in the discharge of thy pastoral duties, 
and thy zeal in guarding and defending the Catholic Faith 
in those distant regions are known to us. Nevertheless, joy- 
fully do we receive the new proof of the same which thou 
hast lately manifested to us, as well in thy rpost loving 
letter, which testifies to thy remarkable devotion to the 
Apostolic See, as also in the copy of the Volume just pub- 
lished by thee, named "" Catholic Christianity and Modern 
Unbelief." We, in our turn, testify by this our lett' r our 
affectionate and grateful disposition towards thee. Vener- 
able Brother, and pray that God may give fruit to thy 
writings and labors for the salvation of souls. And, as a 
token of this favor, we most lovingly bestow on thee. 
Venerable Brother, and on all the faithful whom thou rulest 
by thy Vicarious Apostolical authority, our Apostolical 
Benediction. 

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, 14th day of April, 1885, 
in the eighth year of our pontificate. 

LEO P.P. XIII. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



SECOND EDITION. 

Aletheia ; or, The outspoken Truth 

On the All-important question of Divine Authoritative 
Teacliin^r. An exposition of the Catholic rule of faith, 

contrasted with the various Theories of Private and 
Fallible Interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, with a 
Full Explanation of the Whole Question of Iitfaliibi^ity^ 
and Application of the Principle to the Development 
of Catholic Doctrine, according to the needs of the 
times. Hy the Ui^ht Rev. J. D. IliriRDS, D.D, 
J'.ishopof Retimo, and Vicar-Apostolic of the Faster, i 
A'icariate of the Cape Colony. J.)edicated by per- 
mission to His Kminence Cardinal Manning. 

1211:03 clo'h, . . tiet, 80 cents. 



•' An able and vij;^or;)us exposition of the Catholic 

rnle of faith. Tlie bool< abs(>lntely bris^tles with informa- 
tion adapted! to reception hy almost any class of intellect, 

and so stated that it cannot fail \o be both interesting and 
delightful to all,..." — The Catholic Union and Times^ 
Buffalo. 

"That Bishop Bicards Is eminently the man to write 
such a hook will be admitted by all who have read his 
* Catholic Christianity and Modern Unbelief.' " — The Pilot ^ 
Boston. 

**■ A perusal of 'Aletheia' will convince the most 

sceptical that it is just the hook so much needed ; one to 
set men thinkins?, and yet ojie that will he read by many 
who woiiUl not open the ablest work in the lanffua^e tltat 
treated reHiiiousand social questions in the ordinary way." 
The Monitor^ San I'rancisco. 

". . .We welcome * Aletheia* as a work likely to be read 
with profit by many for whom most other books of relijr- 
ious instruction, though excellent in their way, would be 
apt to have little attraction." — The Ave Alaria, 

" It presents in a masterly manner the Catholic rule 

of faith In point of style, the work bears evidence of 

II lerary powers g reatly above the aTcrage. "— The Republic^ 
Boston. 

" Decficated to the Cardinal Archbishop of West- 
minster, it is in many jjlaces inspired by His Eminence's 
writings, and in all harmonious wltli them. But it takes 
a place of i!s own i:i chiritab'.eaTid sincere controversy."— 
The ]VeekIy Kegistery London, England. 

BZNZIGIl n:0TH:::3, riowYork, Cincinn:.ti and St. Louis. 



New Year Greetings. 

By St, Francis de Sales. Translated from the French 

by Mis3 Margaret 4. Colton. 

32ino, maroquette, full gilt side, 15 cts. ; per 100, $10.00. 

This little book breathing words of love and tenderness, 
of peace and happiness for the New Year, so characteristiq 
of the gentle Doctor of the Church, is eminently suited not 
only for a New Year's Gift, but will provide, spiritual 
reading for ttie whole year. 

— — — — o ■ 

leiatioiis on llie Passion of Oof lori 

Together with a Manual of the Black Scapular of the 
Passion ; and Daily Prayers. Translated from the 
Italian by a Passionist Father. With Frontispiece 
and 14 full-page Illustrations of the Way of the Cross. 
83mo, cloth, red edges, 40 cents. 
The aim of this little book is to assist in meditating on the 
Passion of Christ, and is intended especially for those who 
cannot procure or would, perhaps, shrink ivom reading works 
in which the inexhaustible subject of the Passion is treated 
more learnediy and at greater length. It contains short and 
simple meditations that will suggest matter for pious reflec- 
tion, and may move to sentiments of compassion and love 
for our suffering Redeemer. 



Memorial of a CMstian Life. 

Containing all that a Soul newly converted to God 
ought to do, that it may attain the perfection to which 
it should aspire. From the Spanish of the Yen. Lewis 
DE Granada. With a Preface by a Dominican Father 

of New York. i6mo, cloth, CO cents. 

The author of this book was a most profound and practi- 
cal master of spiritual life. Pope Gregory XIII., during 
whose pontificate he composed many of his works, often 
testified that this writer had done more in the cause of 
the Church than if he had raised the dead to life and had 
given sight to the blind. St. diaries Borromeo was 
equally lavish of praise ; and St. Francis de Sales constantly 
recommended these books to all under his spiritual guidance. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



SaGPed ieaFi 

For the First Friday of every Month. 

Translated from the French of P. HUGUET, Marist, 

By a Sister of Mercy. 

Clotli, red edges. With Steel-plate Frontispiece, 
40 cents. 

Besides the principal feast of the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus, which occurs but once during the year, 
pious souls consecrate to this devotion, in a spirit of 
reparation, the first Friday of each month. 



Year ofthG Sacred Heart. 

A Thought for Every Day 
of the Year. 

Drawn from the Works of Pere de la Columbiere, of Blessed 
Margaret Mary, and of others. 

From the French by Miss ANNA T. SADLIER. 

321110, cloth. With Steel-plate Frontispiece, 
60 cents. 

It is not possible, O faithful souls who read these 
touching words proceeding from the Heart of your 
loving Saviour, that you can remain insensible to 
the invitation that He extends to you to repair the 
outrages heaped upon His love. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 



THE MONTH OF THE 

Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Devotions for Every Day of the Month. 

With Suitable Frmjers ana a Method of Hearing Mass 

in honor of the Sacred Heart. 

Translated from the sixteenth French edition of 

Rev. FATHER HUGUET, Marist, 

By A Sister of Mercy. 

32mo, cloth, with a Steel-plate Frontispiece,. . . 75 cts. 



This delightful work of the renowned Father Huguet has 
passed through numerous editions in France, and been trans- 
lated into many languages. It contains a Meditation for 
every day of the month, followed by a practical example il- 
lustrating some passage in the life of a Saint or other Serv- 
ant of God, with a Practice and an Ejaculation. I'here is 
also a special Meditation for the Feast of the Sacred Heart; 
Prayers for Mass and ior Holy Communion ; a Kovena, a 
Litany, etc., and as the book is arranged for thirty-one 
days, it can also be appropriately used for the month of July, 
which is consecrated to the Precious P>lood. As the work is 
written with special rfierence to interior souls and to reli- 
gious personswho by their vocation are called to practise the 
Evangelical Counsels, the author sets forth plainly the way 
of perfection as founded upon the pure doctrine of the Gos- 
pel, that is? to say, upon Christian Mortification and the life 
of Jesus within us. 

' ■■■ o 

The Little Month of May, 

Followed by Praijers avd a Short Method of 
Assisting at Mass. 

Translated from the French of the j* ntltor cf "<ioldci> 
Sands" by Miss Ella McMahon. 

32rao, maroquette, gilt, 25 cts. 

Of all the ''Months" of May published, this is one of the 
most delightful. Made up of simple thoughts joyfully written 
under the patronage of the Blessed Mother of God it wiii 
appeal directly to every pious soul. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati and St. Louis. 



Our Birthdai] Boupet, 

Culled from the Shrines of the Saints 
and the Gardens of the Poets, 

By E. 0. DONNELLY. 

IGmo, cloth, $^00; full gill, $1.25. 

A Miniature Lives of the Saints, containing a short 
"Life" for every day of the year, followed by an appropri- 
ate verse from some standard Poet, and concluding with a 
devotional practice for the day. It fully sustains the high 
name of its gifted author in the domain of spiritual liter- 
ature. 



MAXIMS AND COUNSELS 

OF 

Sk FFaH(sis de Sales 

For Every Day of the Year. 

Translated from the French by Miss ELLA McMAHON. 

3^1110, cloth, 50 cents. 

This collection is like the inner life of the Saint uncon- 
sciously written by himself. He first practised, and then 
taught. One is gentle from motives of virtue, only when he 
possesses moral strength; in these lines we find the secret 
of that strength which made St. Francis de Sales the gent- 
lest of men. He admirably inculcates the method of sanc- 
tity which he perfectly possessed, a sanctity which seems so 
easy to realize that we feel a desire to reproduce it. It is the 
flower which the Saint causes to bloom in your soul, and 
which will soon bear fruit if you are faithful. These coun- 
sels have been carefully gleaned from the complete collec- 
tion of the Holy Doctor of tlie (Jliurch. 

B£NZIGER BROTHERS, New York, Cincinnati and St. LouU^ 



THEE 

Catholic Family Library. 

The Christian Father ; what he should be, 

and what he should do. With Prayers suitable to his con- 
dition. From the German by Rev. L. A. Lambert, Water- 
loo, N. Y. With an Introduction by Rt. Rev. S. V. Ryan, 
J D.D., CM., Bishop of Buffalo. Fifth Edition. 

Paper, 25 cts. ; Maroquette, 35 ets. ; Cloth, 50 cts. ; 
French Mor. flex., red edges, $1.00. 

The Christian Mother; The Education of 

her Children and her Prayer. Translated by a Father of the 
Society of Jesus. Ninth Edition. With an Introduction by 
the Most Rev. James Gibbons, D.D., Archbishop of 
Baltimore. 
Paper, 25 cts.; Maroquette, 35 cts,; Clotli, 50 cts.; 
Freach Mor. Ilex., red edges, $1.00 

A Sure Way to a Happy Marriage. 

A Book of Instructions for those Betrothed and for Mar- 
ried People. Translated by Rev. Edward I. Taylor. Third 
Edition Revised. 
Pai>er, 30 cts. ; Marotinette, 40 cts. ; Cloth, GO cts. 

In token of my appreciation, I request you to forward me 
A thousand (1000) copies of each of the two former-books 
an 1 five hUBldred (500) of the third for distribution among 
my people. Yours faithfully in Christ, 

ti* James Vincent Cleary, Bishop of Kingston, 

From the Pastoral Letters cf .ilrjht Rov. H. J. O'FARRELL, D.D., 

Bishop of Tronton. 
'^ For Parents we recommend ' The Christian Father ' 
and ' The Christian Mother,' in which they will fully 
learn all their duties to their children." — Pastoral^ 1883. 

" We strongly recommend for your perusal and serious 

consideration two little books lately published: one is en- 
titled 'A Sure Way to a Happy Marriage,' and the 
other 'An Instruction on Mixed Marriages^' by thr Right 
Rev. Dr. Ullathorne."— /'^j/^r*^/, 1882. 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, NewYori<, Cincinnati and St. LouisJ 



SOili TlioiiKaud in pres^«, 

Catholic Belief: 

Or, A Short and Simple Exposition of Catholic Doc- 
trine. By the Very J\.ev. Joseph Faa di Bkuno, D.D, 
American Edition edited by Kev. Louis A. Laimbekt, 
author of *' Notes on Ingersoii,"etc. With the Im- 
primatur of Tlicir Eminences the kite Cardinal, Arch- 
bishop of New York, and the Cardinal, Archbishop of 
Westminster, and an Introduction by the Right Rev. 
S. V. Ryan, Bisliopof Buffalo. 

IGmo, flexible cloth, 40 cents. 
10 copies, 5^2.05.— r)0 copies, $12.00,-100 copies, $20.00. 

Extra cloth, red edges, 75 cents. 
An admirable book of instruction on Christian Doctrfne 
for both Catholics and Protestants. Short, clear, siinple, 
and concise it meets the needs of a numerous class of non-i 
Catholics, who yearning after Truth, unsettled in their 
convictions, sincere in their inquiries, and curious to know 
^ust whjit Catholics do believe, have neither leisure nor 
inclination to por** ovt-r large volumes or study elaborate 
dogmatical treatises. The author evinces rare abiiitv and 
tact in setting forth Catiiolic principles ia n few words, 
with niniiinar simplicity and yet scholastic accnr.icy, bi*t 
eniire freedom from anything whi< h ni.ght give offence 
to any one, without, how e\er, compromising or disguising^ 
the truth. The book is just the one to put in the hands 
of a Protestant friend, confident that Catholic faith wiU 
more readily reach the soul and bring conviction to thg 
understanding, when Catholic charity has won the hear( 
and favorably predisposed the will. 

Catholic Home Almanac. 

M Q ^CJiarminr/ Annual for Catholics. 

slngu^ copies, 25 cents; per dozen, $2.00. 

Pure, wholesome reading for the Home Circle, of interest 
to young and old. 
A Choice Collection of Prose and Verse, embracing Short 
Stories — humorous and pathetic — Poems, Historical and 
Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, Statistics, Astronomical 
Calculations, etc., with numerous beautiful illustrations and 
the Calendars for the months printed in black and red, 
making it jji>t the book lor winter eveniii&m 

BENZIGER BROTHER^e^Yc^ Cincinnati, and St. Lcuil 







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